Conrad Duenkel creating a new vase in his Fair Haven studio

To make an appointment to visit our Gallery, or to purchase glass art,
call 203-773-3040 or email conrad@fairhavenglass.com

A brief history of glass:

  • The first evidence of man-made glass is from Mesopotamia about 40 centuries ago. Cuneiform clay tablets from that time contain secret, highly-ritualized instructions for furnace-building and glass-making.
  • The actual "blowing" of glass was developed by Romans in Phoenicia in the first century B.C.
  • Glass is made by melting quartz sand, limestone and sodium carbonate in a furnace heated to about 2500 degrees for as much as 24 hours.
  • Colors are added to glass by the addition of metallic inorganic compounds or bits of antique colored glass.
  • Melted glass has the consistency of thick honey. It can be collected on the end of a hollow tube and then blown, shaped and cut by the glass artist.
  • Once finished, the piece of art glass is allowed to cool in a controlled manner for several days to avoid stress fractures from over-rapid cooling.
  • Further information is available at Wikipedia and the Corning Museum of Glass:

Conrad blowing glass
Conrad blowing glass
Conrad blowing glass
Conrad blowing glass