Glassblowing: The Technique of Free-Blown Glass
Reference Crafts & Hobbies Engineering & Technology Adult Learning Glassblowing Art Techniques Vintage Crafts
Glassblowing: The Technique of Free-Blown Glass is the 1974 hard-cover classic that serious glass artists still hunt for on the used market. Frank Kulasiewicz, the Polish-born master who taught at Britain’s International Glass Centre, distills decades of furnace work into 160 pages of crystal-clear instruction, line drawings and studio photographs. Unlike modern coffee-table surveys, this is a working manual: how to build a small glory-hole, select the right steel for jacks and shears, read the viscous “plastic” stage of hot glass, and control every breath so a vessel grows from molten blob to paper-thin brilliance. Library rebinding makes this ex-library copy extra-thick and classroom-tough; stamps and pocket are cosmetic only, while the binding remains square and the pages unmarked—perfect for bench-side reference.
Collectors value the first-edition dust jacket’s mid-century graphics, but the real treasure is inside: step-by-step sequences for free-blown shapes—goblets, bowls, stemware—that are disappearing in today’s mold-reliant studios. Kulasiewicz’s philosophy of “one gather, one breath, one decision” trains hand, eye and lung to move as one, a method lampworkers and off-hand artists adapt to borosilicate or soda-lime alike. Whether you’re a young adult exploring craft programs, an adult learner setting up a backyard studio, or a professional ceramicist crossing over, this vintage guide delivers the foundational physics and muscle memory no YouTube video can replace.
Out of print since the late seventies, clean copies now trade for triple figures; this sturdy ex-library edition offers the same technical content at an accessible price point, making it an ideal gift for the emerging glassworker or a nostalgic addition to the seasoned gaffer’s shelf.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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