Flower Vase

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 Italian flower vase, from the early 17th century, was created using the method of mould blowing; where a bubble of molten glass is blown into a mould, which determines both the shape, and in some cases, the surface decoration. The blue glass handles were applied after the vase was removed from the mould.