What is Lampworking?

A type of glasswork where a torch or lamp is primarily used to melt the glass. This is the standard way of making glass in the borosilicate art world. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements with gravity being one of the most useful tools. Although lack of a precise definition for lampworking makes it difficult to determine when this technique was first developed, the earliest verifiable lampworked glass is probably a collection of beads thought to date to the fifth century BC.^[1] Lampworking became widely practiced in Murano, Italy in the 14th century. In the mid 19th century lampwork technique was extended to the production of paperweights, primarily in France, where it became a popular art form, still collected today. Lampworking differs from glassblowing in that glassblowing uses a furnace as the primary heat source, although torches are also used. The term lampworkig and glassblowing are very intertwined these days.

Lampworking is used to create artwork, including beads, figurines, marbles, small vessels, Christmas tree ornaments, and much more. It is also used to create scientific instruments as well as glass models of animal and botanical subjects.