A History of Glass Blowing and Hand Blown Glass Vases

Glass blowing is an art form that has been around for a long time, but interest in it died down until the 1960s, when it underwent a renewal. There are lots of quality artisans blowing glass objects of all kinds. From hand blown glass vases to ornaments and other items, there are lots of options available for decorating your home. There’s a real difference between hand blown and machine made art glass, so make sure you know what you’re getting. Let’s take a look at where these beautiful objects came from.

Blowing glass has been around for a long time – probably since about the first century BCE. Evidence has been found in a waste heap from Syria that suggests that people were blowing glass. However, it didn’t get a lot of attention until the craft was mastered in Venice during the late medieval era. Workers on the Island of Murano learned how to make high quality hand blown glass vases, goblets, globes and other items. Many incredible fine glass pieces came from this era and location, and the Venetian government actually forbade the workers to leave the island, rewarding them instead with titles of nobility.

Holland and Germany were also working with glass during this period, but they weren’t focusing much on blowing it. Instead, these countries became masters of glass engraving. The world of glass blowing changed relatively little between the seventeenth century and the twentieth, strangely enough. However, by the 1960s, interest in glass blowing as an art, rather than a mechanical process, was renewed. It started with professors at the Toledo Museum of Art, who held workshops to experiment with the art form, and only a few years later Dale Chihuly, world reknowned artist, came onto the scene.

With all these new artists coming into glass blowing and creating abstract sculptures, hand blown glass vases and more, this became one of the fastest growing art forms in North America. All kinds of glass blowers are producing beautiful work in all kinds of sizes and shapes, and there’s a good chance that someone is working in your area. Whether you prefer deep blue cobalt glass, green glasses, or swirled and painted glass, there are pieces you’ll love.

Antique hand blown glass is also popular with collectors. This glass can come in all kinds of decorative shapes, sizes and patterns, and is extremely valuable to the right person, making it a good investment for some. Glass objects are like having jewels of your own, whether large or small, cylinder shaped, rectangular, round or square. So, no matter who you are, you should check out your options in hand blown glass vases and other decorative objects. Art glass items are hot right now, and you’ll need to get them while they’re still available.

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