The history of traditional know-how
Glass blowing is a technique invented in the 1st century BC in the Middle East. Since antiquity, workshops in Poitou-Charentes will transform glass imported from the Middle East. The development of glassware in Poitou-Charentes corresponds to the widespread packaging of cognac in bottles at the end of the 19th century. Between 1892 and 1898, Claude Boucher, master glassmaker, developed a semi-automatic machine for the blowing of glass (machine that bears his name), the father of modern machines to blow, these will be generalized in France and internationally. It should be noted that since 2019, the Glass Art professions have been included in the inventory of intangible cultural heritage in France.
Today, there are nearly 576 glass and crystal factories in France, nearly 40 «Meilleur Ouvrier de France» professionals in French companies.
Glass is obtained from sand with quartz (called silica), which will be heated to its melting point, that is to say to reach 1,300°. The glass maker will take a part of the mixture (called «glass paste», the parison) with a hollow cane of about 1, 40 meters (formerly called a “crack”) and will shape it by stretching it. This mixture will be worked with a torch, or more rarely, by hand. After having worked the material, the object will be cooked in an oven and then left to cool in the air in order to be cut and decorate.
|