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Why did glassblowing expand the range of shapes that glassmakers could create?
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glassware
Fish of core-made glass with “combed” decoration, Egyptian, New Kingdom, 18th dynasty (c. 1363–46 bc). In the British Museum. 0.141 m × .069 m.
Glassblowing revolutionized the production of glassware by providing glassmakers with virtually endless possibilities for shaping molten glass into desired forms. Before this innovation, glass was often limited to techniques like core forming or pressing into molds.12
The expansion of shapes was made possible because the technique allowed glass to be manipulated in two primary ways:
- Free blowing: By gathering molten glass on a hollow blowpipe and inflating it, a gaffer (blower) could shape the material by hand, swinging, or rolling it on a surface (marver) to create natural, spherical, or complex forms without the constraints of a mold.2
- Mold blowing: Glass could be inflated into decorative molds, enabling the creation of intricate, consistent shapes—such as shells, clusters of grapes, or human heads—that would be difficult to achieve through other methods.21
By combining these techniques and using tools like shears and tweezers to manipulate the glass while it remained soft, artisans could create a vast array of artistic and functional vessels, moving beyond the limitations of earlier, more rigid manufacturing processes.21