What is in a name? La Verrière is the French name for a glass-making workshop and our property was named as such by the nobleman, Aliot de Montvin (one of our white wines is named after him), in 1427. It is thought he moved his mobile furnaces here to make use of the nearby forests to keep them burning at the high temperatures required for making glass. This fired (excuse the pun) our interest in glassmaking so we wanted to share with you some history about how glass is made and how this art evolved particularly in France.
The Earliest Glass Making
Glazed tiles and glass figurines and beads were being made as early as between 3000 and 1500BC in Ancient Egypt. Once people had discovered what happens when you melt sand/silica and combine it with other materials to create a glaze for a pot, it wasn’t a big leap to try removing the clay material from the inside to leave the glass material on its own. These early glass pioneers would have soon discovered that glass can hold liquid without absorbing it as clay does, so began using it for this and decorative purposes. In the first century BC, Syrian craftspeople began the technique of blowing glass and this process quickly spread around the Middle East.
Glass Making Comes to Europe
A large factor in spreading glassblowing around Europe was the Roman Empire. They were prominent in glass production and set up a particularly large centre for it in Cologne. Remnants found at the site suggest that they used a method where they blew glass into terracotta moulds through a hollow tube. However, as the Roman Empire went into decline, so did glass-making which seemed to largely stop progressing.
An evening of glassblowing at La Verrière
Venice
One place that kept up their glass production until they became dominant in Europe was Venice. It had long been established as an important place in glass production but in 1291, all glassmakers were forced to live and work on the island of Murano due to the process constituting a serious fire hazard. This meant that not only were they keeping Venice safe from fire, they were also able to keep their glass production methods largely a secret. Although many of these secrets finally escaped, it cemented Venice’s reputation as world leaders in making glass which continues to this day.
Glass Innovations
Venice wasn’t the only place producing great glass ideas though. A type of glass called ‘broad sheet’ was created in Sussex in the UK in 1226 which involved blowing rolls of glass and then cutting them down the middle and flattening them out to form sheets of glass. ‘Crown glass’, an early type of window glass, was invented in Rouen in France in 1330. However, it is back to Venice we go for a major breakthrough in 1500 when Angelo Barovier created clear colourless glass.
France as a Glass Powerhouse
By the 1600s, glass production had ramped up all over the world but France became a major power in the industry partly due to their ability to produce plate glass for mirrors in a way that allowed them to make far more than had ever been possible before. Techniques learned from creating stained glass windows for cathedrals meant that French glass producers were experienced in making glass in lots of wonderful colours, and the demand was huge. As the industry boomed for France, there were issues within the Italian government that resulted in serious damage to their glass industry which allowed other countries to dominate.
Whilst glass-making techniques have come on in leaps and bounds since the 17th century, manual glass blowing is still an art form. In fact, a village on the coast of Provence, called Biot, has become a famous destination for blown glass art. We love that glass blowing is still revered in Provence as we think it is a fascinating part of our history and we’re sure Aliot de Montvin would be delighted to see the glass still being produced now. We house our very own tribute to our glassblowing heritage in our gardens...
To come and share in our history with a stay at La Verrière, get in touch on +33 4 90 10 06 32 from France or +44 (0) 7775 682090 from the UK or email reservations@laverriere.com.
