After a recent jaunt to Sandwich, I reflected back on my
first trip to “Cape Cod’s Oldest Town” where I visited the famous Glass Museum. There is a large collection of both blown and
pressed glass pieces, as well as many artifacts found in the grounds long after
the factory was closed. The Museum makes
for an interesting few hours, especially if you are a history buff, interested
in Cape history, or blown glass, both the history of it and as an art
form. The museum also puts on live glass
blowing demonstrations, and these alone are well worth the trip. In fact, on Friday, July 19th, the
Sandwich Glass Museum will be participating in the 2019 “Free Fun
Fridays.” Admission is free for
everyone! Check out their website at sandwichglassmuseum.org
for more information.
I had first
seen glass blown at the Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in
Dearborn, Michigan, in the 1980’s. That
was a wonderful first introduction to glass blowing. The artist first heated the glass up to a
temperature of about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, where it turned into molten
(basically liquid) glass. To make the
process even trickier, the glass blower had to work fairly quickly, as the
glass needed to remain at a temperature of at least 1400 degrees Fahrenheit in
order to remain pliable. I was soon lost
in the swirl of glass colors, deft movements, and the excitement (Will he drop
it? Will he burn himself?). I was truly fascinated by the entire
experience.
(Glass Blowing Video
(Glass Blowing Video
Knowing about my interest in glass blowing, my friend
surprised me last October with a three hour Glass Blowing Class at the Luke
Adams Glass Blowing Studio right here in Norwood. We listened as the instructor explained all
the tools, techniques, and showed us examples.
We were able to jump in and design our own two items…I chose to make a
glass and a pumpkin paperweight. I can
tell you, the instructors make it look sooooo easy! The tools felt awkward, and I was always
aware of the heat. I didn’t give the
glass quite enough air, though, because it was squatter and much thicker than I
intended. I had much better luck with
the pumpkin, and that was done with a lot of support from the instructor, but
it came out beautifully. The point is
that I was able to experience glass blowing close up, to feel the tools in my
hands and the heat on my face as I worked the glass. The three hours flew by! If I hadn’t already had an appreciation for
this art form, I certainly did now. (Luke
Adams Glass Blowing Studio
www.1hotpieceofglass.com).
Not long after I took this class, I was intrigued to see The Glass Blowers by one of my favorite
authors, Dame Daphne Du Maurier. Like
her more famous books such as Rebecca,
Jamaica Inn, and her short story, The Birds, The Glass Blowers presents its own mixture of drama and tragedy as
Du Maurier writes about glass blowing during the French Revolution. Even more intriguing, this is a semi-autobiographical
historical fictional novel based on Du Maurier’s glass-blowing predecessors of
La Brulonnerie , Cherigny, La Pierre, and the Chesne-Bidault. Du Maurier uses the settings and characters
of The Glass Blowers to tell the
story of her own family, with all the accompanying unrest of the French
Revolution and family pathos. This novel
captures the spirit of glass blowing and shows the close community and family
ties that grew in the midst of this specialized art form.
The story opens with Madame Sophie Duval, daughter of a
glass-blowing master and also the widow of one, meeting her nephew for the
first time. Her brother, Robert Busson,
had emigrated from France to England with his new wife, abandoning the glass
house, his family, and his country due to poor financial decisions and
threatened imprisonment. Robert
eventually abandons England and his family and returns to his native France to
die.
Robert’s son, Jacques, was brought up to believe that his
French relatives were of the wealthy upper class, and that the family home was
a beautiful chateau. Sophie quickly
disabused him of these ideas, remarking that the family home was “no more than
a farmhouse.” The rest of the novel
portrays Sophie as she gives her long-lost nephew the true story of the Busson
glass blowers. Sophie tells him, “A
glass-blower, remember, breathes life into a vessel, giving it shape and form
and sometimes beauty; but he can, with that same breath, shatter and destroy
it.” Sophie unravels the story of her
family from before the French Revolution to the five decades after it. Sophie’s quote exemplifies her brother
Robert’s life, and the pain he caused his family with his unfortunate
decisions.
I am a big fan of historical fiction as a genre, and can
appreciate how Du Maurier takes it a step beyond by adding her personal touch. Du Maurier’s descriptions of the glass
factory, her in-depth knowledge of the business of glass blowing, and the
personalities behind them make for a very satisfying and informative read.
