Corning Museum of Glass

A movement that began in the United States in the 1960s and has spread all over the world. It is characterized by the proliferation of glass artists who are not affiliated with factories, but work with hot glass in their own studios. The emergence of independent glass artists was made possible by Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino’s development in 1962 of a small furnace and easy-to-melt glass.

A term popularized in the 1960s for unique or limited-edition objects designed and made in a studio rather than a factory, often, but not necessarily, by the same person.

The initial phase of melting batch. For many modern glasses, the materials must be heated to a temperature of about 2450°F (1400°C). This is followed by a maturing period, during which the molten glass cools to a working temperature of about 2000°F (1100°C).

Glass in which the flux is boric oxide instead of alkali. The first %%borosilicate glass%% was created by Otto Schott in 1882. It has a low coefficient of expansion and therefore withstands sudden changes of temperature.

The technique of forming objects from rods and tubes of glass that, when heated in a flame, become soft and can be manipulated into the desired shape. Formerly, the source of the flame was an oil or paraffin lamp used in conjunction with foot-powered bellows; today, gas-fueled torches are used.

The technique of forming an object by inflating a gather or gob of molten glass on the end of a blowpipe. Traditionally and in modern furnace working, the gaffer blows through the tube, slightly inflating the gob, which is then manipulated into the required form by swinging it, rolling it on a marver, or shaping it with tools or in a mold. It is then inflated to the desired size. In flameworking, one end of the glass tube is heated and closed immediately, after which the worker blows into the other end and manipulates the hot glass.

(1) Several types of glass with newly developed surface textures, shaded colors, or casing, made in the United States from about 1870 and in Europe between about 1880 and 1900; (2) more generally, especially when written “art glass,” any ornamental glassware made since the mid-19th century.