Corning Museum of Glass

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

A layer of glass that covers a layer of a different color, often as the result of casing or flashing.

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.

A thin, monochrome rod, or a composite rod consisting of groups of rods of different colors, which are bundled together and fused to form a polychrome design that is visible when seen in cross section.

Any instrument used by glassworkers to develop and shape an object. Glassworkers’ tools include the blowpipe, pontil, gathering iron, jacks, shears, clapper, pallet, block, pincers, battledore, lipper, and crimper.