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The history of Mexican glass blowers goes back to the early 1500s when they began production in Puebla. Initially, methods were far more primitive than today's. For hundreds of years, with just a blob of molten glass, a long pipe and a few simple tools, the artesanos produced beautiful, if imperfect, objects. Their technique still consists of blowing through a pipe onto a red-hot glass mass, heated to molten in a special oven. As the artisan blows, he begins molding glass by continuously turning it around with the pipe. Nowadays, glass blowers who can blow large bubbles inside the glassware are considered "Master Blowers."
When the piece begins to cool, the artesano begins shaping and designing. For example, the glass blower "pinches" a pitcher when it's hot, creating a handle. Similarly, he creates the stem of a wine glass. More skillful blowers decorate their glassware with ribbons of color or spots-known as "confetti" or "pebbles"-of vivid colors. To create these colors, various metal oxides are added to the glass. Iron, copper cobalt, and iron-sulfur combinations are used to produce green/aqua, light and dark blue, as well as amber and brown. Pastels are achieved by adding crushed glass of the desired color. All authentic Mexican glassware contains a "pontil," or notch on the bottom of the glass to indicate that it was hand blown. The glass blower cuts the hot glass at that point when he is finished with the piece.
Hand-blown glass, or vidrio soplado in Spanish, is created in factories all over México. The most skillful artesanos are found in the towns of Tonalá and Tlaquepaque, near Guadalajara, where they take traditional glass vases, platters and bowls and give them a brilliant, modern flair that truly makes them collector's items. The best places to buy these designer pieces are directly at the production factories, which are usually willing to let tourists watch the production process, shop on the premises and even make special orders. Closer to home, San José's Sol Dorado carries unique, hand-blown pieces, many of which surpass the quality of those found on the mainland, while the Marina Mercado in Cabo San Lucas offers a wide selection of more functional items. There is also a blown glass factory in Los Cabos and tours can be arranged.
Article by Ann Hazard
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