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 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.

A tool made from a block of wood hollowed out to form a hemispherical recess. After it has been dipped in water to reduce charring and to create a “cushion” of steam, the block is used to form the gather into a sphere before it is inflated.

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.

The process of slowly cooling a completed object in an auxiliary part of the glass furnace, or in a separate furnace. This is an integral part of glassmaking because if a hot glass object is allowed to cool too quickly, it will be highly strained by the time it reaches room temperature; indeed, it may break, either as it cools or at some later date. Highly strained glasses break easily if subjected to mechanical or thermal shock.

An enclosed structure for the production and application of heat. In glassmaking, furnaces are used for melting the batch, maintaining pots of glass in a molten state, and reheating partly formed objects at the glory hole.

(1) A rounded, hollow vessel; (2) the uppermost part of a goblet, tazza, or wineglass.

(1) The process of founding or melting the batch; (2) heating pieces of glass in a kiln or furnace until they bond (see Casting and Kiln forming); (3) heating enameled glasses until the enamel bonds with the surface of the object.

The process of cutting into the surface of an annealed glass object either by holding it against a rotating copper wheel fed with an abrasive or by scratching it, usually with a diamond.

The technique of removing the surface of an object with a rotating wheel fed with an abrasive, or by some other means.

The technique whereby glass is removed from the surface of an object by grinding it with rotating wheels made of stone, wood, and cork. The first stage of the process employs a stone wheel under a continuous stream of water. Later, wheels of fine-grained stone and wood, fed with various abrasives, are used to grind and polish the surface.

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.

A forming technique in which molten glass is poured or ladled into a mold of compacted sand. A rough-textured granular surface results where the glass comes into contact with the sand.

The generic name for a wide variety of techniques used to form glass in a mold.

The process of pulling semimolten glass to elongate it. It is used, for example, in the production of canes.

The most common form of silica used in making glass. It is collected from the seashore or, preferably, from deposits that have fewer impurities. For most present-day glassmaking, sand must have a low iron content. Before being used in a batch, it is thoroughly washed, heated to remove carbonaceous matter, and screened to obtain uniformly small grains.

A vitreous substance made of finely powdered glass colored with metallic oxide and suspended in an oily medium for ease of application with a brush. The medium burns away during firing in a low-temperature muffle kiln (about 965°-1300°F or 500°-700°C). Sometimes, several firings are required to fuse the different colors of an elaborately enameled object.

The process of winding a thin trail of glass around an object to create the appearance of parallel lines. In 1876, W. J. Hodgetts of Stourbridge, England, patented a machine that produced very regular and closely spaced threads.

Susceptible to being modeled or shaped. When it is in a molten state, glass can be described as plastic.

The generic term for glass that is manipulated while it is hot.

A pocket of gas trapped in glass during manufacture. The term is used both for bubbles introduced intentionally (known as air traps or beads) and for unwanted bubbles created during the melting process. Very small bubbles are known as seeds.

(Italian, “filigree glass”) The generic name for blown glass made with colorless, white, and sometimes colored canes. The filigrana style originated on the island of Murano in the 16th century and spread rapidly to other parts of Europe where façon de Venise glass was produced. Manufacture on Murano continued until the 18th century, and it was revived in the 20th century.

(Italian, “filigree glass”) The generic name for blown glass made with colorless, white, and sometimes colored canes. The filigrana style originated on the island of Murano in the 16th century and spread rapidly to other parts of Europe where façon de Venise glass was produced. Manufacture on Murano continued until the 18th century, and it was revived in the 20th century.

These terms are used inconsistently, especially in the context of contemporary glass. When used as a noun, murrina usually refers to a multicolored element embedded in an object, whereas murrine most often refers to slices of a complex cane.

An oven used to process a substance by burning, drying, or heating. In contemporary glassworking, kilns are used to fuse enamel and for kiln-forming processes such as slumping.

A stand with a socket or spike for one candle.

The collective name for drinking vessels and serving dishes with a stem supporting the bowl.

The application of a layer of glass over a layer of contrasting color. The gaffer either gathers one layer over another gather, or inflates a gob of hot glass inside a preformed blank of another color. The two components adhere and are inflated together (perhaps with frequent reheating) until they have the desired form. Sometimes, the upper layer is carved, cut, or acid-etched to produce cameo glass.

(French, “glass paste”) A material produced by grinding glass into a fine powder, adding a binder to create a paste, and adding a fluxing medium to facilitate melting. The paste is brushed or tamped into a mold, dried, and fused by firing. After annealing, the object is removed from the mold and finished.

A surface decorated with many small, adjoining pieces of varicolored materials, such as stone or glass.

The generic name for decorative windows made of pieces of colored glass fitted into cames and set in iron frames. Strictly speaking, the term is inaccurate because, in addition to glass colored by staining, glaziers used, and continue to use, glass colored throughout by metallic oxide, glass colored by flashing, and glass decorated with enamel.