These carefully mouthblown glasses are not colored throughout their mass. They attain their coloration through the "flash" technique of glass blowing. One or more colored glasses are applied to a clear or colored base glass referred to as the "carrier glass". This method creates a practically unlimited variety of glasses. Multicolored glasses, glasses with or without shading, gently shaded, cloudy or torn - all may be produced using this method. White "milk" glasses, availible in dense "opak" or translucent "opal" densities obscure views but allow light transmission.

Technique and Colors:

Doubleflash: Blue and Opak White on Clear glass. It is easy to see that the glass is not colored through the mass, instead the colored "flashes" lie on top of the colorless "carrier" glass.

The production

The first step is to pick up the molten flash color with the blowpipe. The shape of this initial gather determines the final appearance of the flashed glass. A round balloon results in even flashing throughout the sheet, a pear shape gentle shading and a "notched" mass creates the "torn" appearance. The base color glass is then gathered over the beginning flash color gather and blown out into cylinder shape. Throughout the process, the glassblower must consider the final intended appearance of the flash. After the blowing of the cylinder, the steps of production are identical to those of Genuine Antique Glass. The precise control of form and color of the flash requires considerable experience as well as the skilled craftsmanship of the glassblower.