Blown glass (History)
Introduction
Glass blowing is the technique of manufacturing glass objects by creating bubbles in molten glass. These bubbles are obtained by injecting air into a piece of material through a long metal tube using a machine or by hand blowing with a reed, blowing through the other end. With this technique, the glass is molded with wet paper or wood in the shape of a bowl called mayocha. It is a system similar to the one used to make soap bubbles.
Production phases
The components are brought to temperature in an oven that is generally dome-shaped and has three parts:
The vitreous paste") is in contact with the outside through an opening arranged around the oven. First, the paste is given a cylindrical shape and then the operator takes a small amount of paste with the cane, which is usually between one meter and one meter forty-five in length, and through this the craftsman begins to blow to give the object the desired shape, so that the object never loses the malleability produced by the heat of the oven. In this phase, molds can be used to speed up the process. blowing, when carried out directly in the molds. Once this modeling process is completed, the glass object is placed in the annealing oven where it continues to be fired at lower temperatures and gradually to avoid cracks or breaks due to sudden changes in temperature.[1].
History
Its first use, which dates back to very ancient times, was for jewelry objects. By adding various minerals during melting, beads of different colors, sizes and shapes were obtained.
The precise origin of this technique is unknown; the oldest known data dates back to the area of Syria, around the century BC. C., spreading throughout the Mediterranean, through the Roman Empire.
In Spain, one of the main exponents of glass blowing was Don Faustino Martín Plaza (1932-2007), who won the I Interprovincial Chemical Glass Blowing Competition in 1973.