But crashing into this world comes the violence and terror of the French Revolution against which, the family struggles to survive. The Glass-Blowers is a remarkable achievement — an imaginative and exciting reworking of du Maurier’s own family history.” a b c Wright, K. (2000). "Leaf Beakers and Roman Mould-blown Glass Production in the First Century AD". Journal of Glass Studies. 42: 61–82. I was a bit disappointed with this one, however, on the flipside... it was intriguing to read about the French Revolution from the pov of a working class citizen, Sophie, who is surrounded by/related to revolutionary supporters and fanatics*. It's fascinating and refreshing to see the revolution from a sympathetic (or at least neutral) perspective - most of the books out there are written in defense of the aristocracy and while that's not bad (neither one is a bad pov, in my opinion), it's still nice to have a different look on things. It reminded me a bit of In Search of Honor, where they're all in favor of it, some even obsessively so, and how little by little they see the flaws and successes of the new system, as leaders rise and fall. Very different feel from The Scarlet Pimpernel, and while I love TSP, I also enjoy knowing what it was like for the everyday, "insignificant" French people. I love du Maurier's books, most of them are incredible. This one just didn't cut it for me, though, and I think that's a first.

Proper safety glasses protect the eyes from these dangers and allow glassblowers to see their work properly despite strong light. Freestone, I. (1991). "Looking into Glass". In S. Bowman (ed.) Science and the Past. pp.37–56. University of Toronto Press: Toronto & Buffalo. ISBN 0-7141-2071-5 As the story progresses and a hard winter combined with high bread prices stokes the fires of resentment among the poorer classes, Sophie finds her family caught up in the vacillating tides of revolution. Doug Merritt is the cofounder of Vandermark-Merritt Glass Studios. He began his career as a glassblower creating colonial glassware reproductions. His studio also specialized in Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs, crystal sculpture, and cased floral vases. In addition to working and demonstrating, Paul Stankard is also the author of three books about his life and glassblowing.

A crimp is a metal device that looks a bit like a pair of kitchen tongs, but has a textured surface. This tool creates a decorative design and texture when glass is squeezed between it. Crimps come in a variety of sizes, with different patterns to suit your specific needs. While known for a variety of different works, Chihuly is most famous for his large installations. His chandeliers and freestanding pieces are composed of hundreds of individual glass elements fused together. Some notable pieces include “Fireworks of Glass Tower and Ceiling” in Indianapolis, Indiana and “Sole d’Oro” in Asheville, North Carolina. a b c d e f g h Tatton-Brown, V. (1991). "The Roman Empire". In H. Tait (ed.) Five Thousand Years of Glass. pp. 62–97. British Museum Press: London ISBN 0-8122-1888-4

When I was 12 or 13 I read a number of Daphne du Maurier’s books and have seen a number of enjoyable films based on her novels since that time. The Glass Blowers is the first I’ve read in quite a while. I have to say it was a bit disappointing. Wood, Marilee (2012). "Interconnections: glass beads and trade in southern and eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean - 7th to 16th centuries AD". Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. 47 (2): 248. doi: 10.1080/0067270x.2012.680307. ISSN 0067-270X. S2CID 162211326. Her other books are mostly suspenseful, creepy, dark, twisted, and this one had none of that - which might be why it wasn't that good. Set during the French Revolution, it centered around a middle-class family who is either well-off or just barely getting by, I could never quite tell which. I may well have enjoyed reading this novel much more if I had not so recently read Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety and Marge Piercy's City of Darkness, City of Light, two outstanding novels dealing with the French Revolution. Du Maurier's novel suffers when compared to these works. Part of this is due to the form of the narrative. Sophie Duval recounts the family's involvement with the Revolution as something which occurred many years previously. Her account is therefore a distant memory, rather than a currently lived experience, as is the case for Mantel's and Piercy's characters. This has the effect of distancing the reader from the characters and the events they experience. He is remembered for his master of hot shaping sculpture and was knighted by the President of Italy in 1989. Signoretto passed away in 2017.

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FRANCIS, PETER (1990). "Glass Beads in Asia Part Two. Indo-Pacific Beads". Asian Perspectives. 29 (1): 1–23. ISSN 0066-8435. JSTOR 42928207. One of the things I usually love about du Maurier is her descriptive writing and the way she creates a strong sense of time and place – and this is something that I thought was missing from The Glass-Blowers (apart from in the Vendée scenes, as I mentioned above). This hasn’t become a favourite du Maurier book, then, but in my opinion even her weaker novels are still worth reading.” Below are # must-know glassworkers from history and the present day that have rose to fame due to their creativity, skills, and persistence. Researchers at the Toledo Museum of Art attempted to reconstruct the ancient free-blowing technique by using clay blowpipes. The result proved that short clay blowpipes of about 30–60cm (12–24in) facilitate free-blowing because they are simple to handle and to manipulate and can be re-used several times. [8] Skilled workers are capable of shaping almost any vessel forms by rotating the pipe, swinging it and controlling the temperature of the piece while they blow. They can produce a great variety of glass objects, ranging from drinking cups to window glass. The Roman leaf beaker which is now on display in the J. Paul Getty Museum was blown in a three-part mold decorated with the foliage relief frieze of four vertical plants. [13] Meanwhile, Taylor and Hill [14] tried to reproduce mold-blown vessels by using three-part molds made of different materials. The result suggested that metal molds, in particular bronze, are more effective in producing high-relief design on glass than plaster or wooden molds.