Colorless glass, plastic base; blown, hot-worked. (a) Pair of wineglasses with applied curved stem; bases of two stems joined together. (b) Opaque white plastic rectangular base with ground oval-shaped flat center on which the wineglasses rest.

The wish glasses were designed to be used for a single special toast, and then broken apart at the top of the joined stems, “sealing” the wish. Over the past decade, changes in the market and the economy have forced many large glassworks to redirect their focus, to reinvent their products, or to close. For high-end glass design, a new direction in production and marketing is beginning to emerge. Designers, such as Sara Musselman, are looking at alternative sources for manufacturing. For glass, these sources include artist-glassblowers, whose studios are equipped to handle limited-edition production.