Red Spiral Glass Finial

This Finial Ornament is about 9 inches long and 2 inches in diameter around the widest part. The Finial Ornament comes to a slight point at the top and a deeper point at the bottom, with the center being slightly plump. It is a beautiful deep red Finial with spirals that appear to have been formed by twisting the glass at the top and bottom after it was hand blown. This causes a ripple effect when the glass twirls slightly as it hangs gracefully from your tree. Select this link to view our Gold Ornament and Red Christmas Ornaments.

Why are Red and Green used as colors for Christmas?
No one really knows for sure why Red and Green are symbols for Christmas. One theory is that Green is the color of the evergreens that symbolize rebirth and new life. The holly berry seems to be responsible fro the red. The red berry that lives through winter, symbolizes like in the face of death. Hence both colors represent Christ. Select this link to view our Teardrop Shaped Gold Ornament.

Glass Blowing Techniques.
Free Blowing.
This method held a pre eminent position in glass forming ever since its introduction in the middle of the first century B.C. until the late nineteenth century and is still widely used nowadays as a glass forming technique. The process of free blowing involves the blowing of short puffs of air into a molten portion of glass which is gathered at one end of the blowpipe. This has the effect of forming an elastic skin on the interior of the glass blob that matches the exterior caused by the removal of heat from the furnace. The glassworker can then quickly inflate the molten glass to a coherent blob and work it into a desired shape. Skilled workers are capable of shaping almost any vessel forms by rotating the pipe, swinging it and controlling the temperature of the piece while they blow. A great variety of glass objects, ranging from drinking cups to window glass, are produced by free blowing. Select this link to view our Chandelier Ornaments with Crystal Facets.

Mould Blowing.
Mould blowing was an alternate glassblowing method that came after the invention of free blowing, during the first part of the second quarter of the first century A.D. A gather of molten glass is placed on the end of the blowpipe which is then inflated into clay, wooden or metal craved moulds. In this way, the shape and the texture of the bubble of glass is determined by the design on the interior of the mould. Two types of moulds, namely single piece mould and multi piece mould, are frequently used to produce mould blown vessels. The former allows the finished glass object to be removed in one movement by pulling it upwards from the single piece mould and is largely employed to produce tableware and utilitarian vessels for storage and transportation. Whereas the latter is made in multi paneled moulds that join together, thus permitting the development of more sophisticated surface modeling, texture and design. Select this link to view our Christmas Ornament Sets.