The recipe for making glass has changed little for several thousands of years: sand, alkali ashes, and lime from crushed stones are melted together to give a strong, yet fragile material. This molten material can then be manipulated by the glassmaker in a number of ways.This 19th century, English beaker was free blown. This is where air is blown down a metal tube that has a blob of molten glass at its end to create a bubble. This bubble of glass would then have been shaped using a variety of tools to create the desired form.