Shimmering baubles blown by hand

From the heat of the furnace in his Somerset workshop, glass alchemist Will Shakspeare hand-blows exquisite decorations

THE OVERNIGHT SNOW shower has laid a carpet of white across the fields, and little stirs on this chilly December morning. In the silent, wintry landscape, it is almost as though nature has decided to stay in bed today, hoping perhaps for the world to thaw out a little. But whatever the weather outside, it is never cold in Will Shakspeare’s workshop. Neither is it ever quiet. The background roar of furnaces is always present in this hub of creative industry.

Christmas is almost upon us, and for several months, Will, an internationally renowned glass-blower, has been preparing for the occasion at his Langport studio in the Somerset Levels. Smoothly and swiftly, he works; his years of experience are evident in the complex transformation of a globule of molten glass into an exquisite Christmas bauble, all in a matter of just minutes.

It is a kind of alchemy: his eclectic workshop, full of fire and curious tools, is a place of mystery to the uninitiated. And around the walls, in display cabinets and on shelves, are the sumptuously coloured fruits of his labours, including jugs, drinking glasses, stoppered bottles, lamps, and, of course, baubles. These are beautiful, blown-glass pieces waiting to be taken into the gallery next door.

A passion for glass

The work is hot and heavy, but Will makes it look easy; his skill honed by decades of practising this craft. “I’ve been doing this for so many years, says Will. “I don’t want to say just how long, but let’s just say that I started working with glass in the last century. I went to college to do a ceramics course, and they had a glass department there. As part of the course, we had to do a support study in glass, and I was hooked from day one.”

Will works alongside Johnny Allen, who came to glass-blowing just two years ago. “It’s invigorating to watch somebody fall in love with a material that you fell in love with yourself,” says Will, who has a tangible enthusiasm for his work and the sharing of his skills.

“We love the variety, and we’re lucky to be able to create a wide range of products that are constantly evolving. It’s like a journey; trying to put together all the bits and pieces of technique and inspiration. It can be a whirlwind. Molten glass is one of the most difficult materials to work with. It can be infuriating, trying to get each piece just as you want it and in proportion, but I love that challenge,” he explains.

“The next project or idea is always the best: the suspense; the excitement; the strife of trying to get it right. What I really enjoy is that if I still can’t get it right, there’s always something to aim for. There is great satisfaction in achieving what is in your mind’s eye.

“Sometimes, a particularly pleasing artistic result can happen by fortuitous accident, but it isn’t always possible to recreate that. Happy accidents can be dreadful because you can’t repeat them. You can’t always make art every day.”

Molten glass

The process of making a Christmas bauble is, for those who know what they are doing, swift and slick.

To start, Will spreads several handfuls of tiny, multi-coloured glass fragments in a swathe across a smooth metal tabletop, or marver. These will give the bauble its colour. The marver is a vital part of the workshop’s furniture and has been made by Will from a recycled battery-hen cage. He is a great believer in making equipment to exactly fit his requirements where necessary and feels that being able to weld is an essential element of his skill.

Next, Will selects a glass-blowing ‘iron’; a 4ft 4in (1.3m) metal pole that has been resting in an ‘iron warmer’ in preparation for use.

The noise level in the studio increases dramatically as he now opens the roaring furnace. Inside this, a bowl, made of the mineral sillimanite, contains clear molten soda glass. This glass is sourced from Germany, arriving in Somerset as round nuggets of a similar size to a small paperweight.

Running on natural gas at approximately 1060°C, this furnace is never switched off. The heat surge as Will opens the door is intense.

Inserting the blowing iron into the sillimanite container, Will gathers molten glass onto the end of the iron, twisting it to gather an amorphous bulb of liquid glass. Moving swiftly to the marver, he rolls this soft glass in the coloured fragments, the tiny pieces sticking to the molten glass on the end of the blowing iron.

Rolling this embryonic bauble backwards and forwards along the marver, Will spreads the coloured pieces while at the same time smoothly rounding the malleable glass.

He then swiftly transfers the iron to a smaller, ever-open furnace: the heat-shimmering ‘glory hole’ that runs even hotter, at 1150°C. The glory hole’s temperature can be moderated and, unlike the larger furnace, is not left on all the time. Will constantly twirls and twists the laden blowing iron within the heat so that the coloured glass fragments melt and spread around the forming bauble.

Blowing and shaping

From here, the bauble, still on the blowing iron, is moved back to the marver, where it is again rolled to ‘peter in’ the colour. Next, Will takes a seat at his glass-blowing chair, which is another piece of his own-make equipment. At this point, he blows a quick puff of air down the hollow centre of the blowing iron, introducing air into the bauble.

The air arrives at the hot end of the iron and can be

“What though no real voice nor sound Amid their radiant orbs be found In reason’s ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice, Forever singing as they shine, ‘The Hand that made us is divine’”

Joseph Addison, ‘Ode’

seen expanding inside the molten glass, which is constantly being twirled by Will to maintain an even, rounded shape. The bauble visibly expands with the air inside it.

Will now rolls the iron backwards and forwards in front of him, along the glass-blowing chair’s metal arms, at the same time as shaping the bauble with a hand-held pad of water-soaked newspaper: a bucket of cold water is always kept beside the chair. Will also uses a metal ‘paddle’ to help shape the bulb of glass and checks its size by placing the growing bauble in a metal scoop, kept ready in the water bucket.

Using tongs, called jacks, Will ‘cuts in’ the neck of the bauble, creating the narrow top. He may also blow in more air at this stage.

Now almost finished, the bauble is placed briefly back into the glory hole, Will still twirling as he does so. When withdrawn, the newborn bauble has a beautifully iridescent, almost metallic sheen. It is still very hot, and Will demonstrates this by lighting a sheet of newspaper from it.

Finishing and cooling

Back at the glass-blowing chair, he starts to cool the bauble with the aid of air from an overhead air line. ‘Parrot-nosed’ shears are used to swiftly and smoothly take the still-hot bauble off the blowing iron. Then, it is placed in a small cushion of fire blanket, which is pre-cut to hold the shape of each newly made piece.

To make the hanging loop for the bauble, Johnny takes a hot ‘punty’ iron from the warmer. This is thinner than the blowing iron, with no hole down the centre. He gathers a small quantity of molten glass from the furnace and dexterously creates a loop with this soft glass, attaching it to the top of the bauble. The whole new structure is then placed into a Lehr kiln, where it, and any other creations from the day, will cool gradually overnight. The colours of each piece develop as it cools.

The entire, incredibly involved process has taken a mere 5 minutes. It is like watching a dance.

The implements Will and Johnny use are often themselves works of art. “As with anything, the tools are very important,” says Will. “Many of mine are made by the late, great Ivan Smith, who was renowned in the industry. Some of them I’ve had for 30 years.”

“It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light”

Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles

Ivan Smith’s hand-made glass-blowing tools, crafted using traditional blacksmithing techniques, have become extremely collectible.

Changing trends

Over the years that Will has been glass-blowing, trends in Christmas baubles have changed.

“Customers are now more likely to buy one bauble and add it to their tree as a memory,” he explains. “A Christmas bauble has become a lovely thing to give or receive, although we actually sell baubles all year round. People like to hang them in windows and gardens, or anywhere else they can catch the light.”

For 2020, Will and Johnny are creating a less rounded, more geometrically shaped bauble.

The finished piece feels robust and not at all flimsy, belying its fragile components and shining, delicate appearance. With a lovely iridescent finish, silvery shades of reds, greens and blues, each bauble is beautiful to behold: something lasting; something to keep for generations.

The glass arrives in Will’s workshop as nuggets.

Will inserts the end of the metal iron, or rod, into the fierce heat of the furnace to pick up molten soda glass (top and bottom left). He then rolls it in the shards scattered on a metal marver before using a smaller, but even hotter, furnace to melt the colour into the bauble (top and bottom right).

Will blows the molten glass while sitting in the chair he made especially for the job, using the metal arms to rest the blowing iron on.

Will shapes the bauble with thick pads of wet newspaper, which also protect his hands from the intense heat.

Once the glimmering orb is clipped from the iron, Johnny makes the glass loop which is used to hang it from the tree. Using a second, narrower iron, he collects a blob of molten glass from the furnace and skilfully fashions it on the top.