Bending glass with the first art-glass studio in Mumbai

THE MAKING OF…

The Studio uses an international formula to make good quality clear glass, which is the starting point of the glassmaking process. Glass begets glass—if you will. This glass, the raw material, is heated to several thousand degrees in the furnace till it melts. Then a blowpipe is inserted and the thick liquid-like molten glass is curled and gathered around the end. In this malleable form, the glass is blown and shaped. If it cools down before it can be shaped as desired, then it is placed in a reheating furnace called ‘the glory hole’ where it is heated till it is malleable again. For adding colour, this hot glass is dipped in powdered colour glass so that the colours meld into it. As soon as the glass forms the shape the glassworker is looking for, it is separated from the blowpipe by tapping its neck ever so gently with a pair of steel tweezers. Tap too hard and all that work will be for nothing. “There is a lot of physics in the making of glass. Many actions are done to keep it going, but glass has a memory of its own. One wrong step and it will scar,” says Plumber. The whole process takes the synchronised movement of two people.

The country’s centre for glassmaking is Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh where the glassmaking industry is centuries’ old. Rural Modern is more of a boutique operation which offers designers the space, time and creative support to produce more complicated sculptural products. The Studio produces custom works for designers and its staff is trained to assist artists and designers who work with glass as their medium. The Studio also offers a popular workshop series for amateurs to pick up this delicate artform.