Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. IX.—February, 1851.—Vol. II.Various
General
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. IX.—February, 1851.—Vol. II.
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
By this time the temperature of the mass has cooled down, and it becomes
necessary to reheat it, which is done as before. The artificer next
seats himself on a stool with elevated arms, upon which he rests the
pontil, which he grasps and twirls with his left hand, having thus a
command over the red-hot glass with his right hand, in which he holds a
small iron instrument called a procello, consisting of two blades with
an elastic bow, similar to a sugar-tongs. With this little instrument
the whole work of fashioning is performed, and as it must be completed
while the glass is yet ductile (having always, however, the power of
reheating it when necessary), the process is effected with wondrous
celerity. By the aid of the procello he enlarges or contracts the mass,
which he adapts to its motions with his left hand, and where any
shapeless excrescences appear he instantly cuts them off with a pair of
scissors as easily as if they were so much lace or cotton. And thus,
almost in less time than it has occupied us in the description, articles
of the most exquisite form and delicacy are created by the art-magic of
these Vulcans of the glass-furnace.
That which chiefly excites astonishment and admiration in the spectator
is the ease and security with which a material so fragile is cut,
joined, twirled, pressed out and contracted, by the hands of the
workmen. Long practice alone can insure the requisite certainty and
quickness of manipulation, and the eye must be highly educated to its
work before it can achieve off-hand, and, by a sort of accomplished
instinct, the beautiful shapes which are thus rapidly produced.
The moment the article is finished it is detached from the pontil and
dropped into a bed of ashes, from whence it is removed while it is yet
hot, by a pronged stick or wooden shovel, to the tray to be deposited in
the annealing oven where it is gradually cooled.
HOW CROWN, PLATE, AND WATCH GLASSES ARE MADE.
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