Glass Blowing Demonstrations by Australia’s ‘Royal’ Glass Blower Master Craftsman Robert Shield ( Studio Royal) at Popeye Village, Anchor bay, Malta.
The art of glass making goes back to prehistoric times. Its origin, like that of metallurgy or agriculture, is lost in antiquity.
During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Italy was the center for fine glass working. The great Republic of Venice and the tiny duchy of Altara, near Genoa were particularly talented and adept. The Venetians were so jealous of their art that in the 16th century any glass blower that took his skills abroad was subject to the death penalty. In 1291 a decree was issued to move the glass working plants to the island of Murano. This provided the isolation required to shield glass blowing secrets from the prying eyes of competitors. The cumulative improvements of centuries of glassblowing techniques and tools make him an artesian capable of virtually any manipulation in the manufacture of glass products. All that is required to make glass is a little sand, a little soda, a little lime and a lot of heat.
Legend tells us that Roman seaman, preparing to cook their evening meal on a beach, set their pots on top of stones of natron, a soda used in embalming the dead. As the cooking fire heated both these stones and the sand below, a strange liquid began to flow and that was the origin of manmade glass. More accurate history sets the beginning of glass production nearly twenty-five hundred years earlier than that 1st century account in Mesopotamia where potters fused sand and minerals while firing their clay into glass. Nearly a thousand years later one clever Mesopotamian managed to form a glass tube and blow a bubble at the end, creating the first blowpipe and hence the art of glassblowing. The first metal blowpipe came into widespread use in the 1st or second century before Christ and glass production soared, particularly in the Roman world, where glass became available to the rich and the poor. The decline of the Roman Empire brought a lull in glass making, but then came the rise of the Islamic world; with it's beautifully colored and delicately shaped glass.
Throughout this long history of glassblowing, skilled men endured the tremendous heat to coax beautiful forms from the fire using nothing more than their breath and a few simple tools. They worked hard to polish their skills to uniformity and precision, but even so each creation was as individual as the maker.
Master Robert uses special Pyrex Glass best known for the production of Cookware, because of its strength and resistance to high temperature. Robert’s torch produces temperatures in excess of 1200 degrees.
In 1986 Robert produced a beautiful glass horse and carriage as a gift for the Duke and Duchess of York, earning him the title of Australia’s ‘Royal’ Glassblower.
You can see Roberts work at his web site www.studioroyal.com
Studio Royal (Australia) manufactures and sells only the finest in hand blown glass creations from their new Studio and Factory at Popeye Village, Anchor Bay, on the Mediterranian Island of Malta. Pieces from Robert Shield's unique "La Mer" collection of hand crafted Sea Creatures on natural Coral are always on display. No two are identical and each is a unique collectors piece.
Master Robert specializes in unique 'tear drop' necklaces including the amazing 'talking tear' - the unique properties crafted into this unusual necklace give it pendulum like abilities to answer questions and do facinating feats of psychic deduction. This is achieved by amplifying the subconscious motor movements of the body.
Master Robert is now based in Malta and can be reached via email at rshield@onvol.net
