Pâte de verre is the original and ancient method of glass making practiced in the Middle East. There was a revolution in glass production around 20 B.C. and the technique was suddenly replaced by glass blowing. It was too painstaking and time-consuming.
Pâte de verre involves the following steps: a form is sculpted first and a mould invested around it; the form is removed from the mould which is then filled with glass powder and fired; the fired mould has to be broken – or the interior of a vessel scraped out – carefully; and, the resulting glass piece is ground and polished.
