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Extracts of Matters of Historical Interest from "The Huissier, News For and About the Fortress of Louisbourg Heritage Presentation Staff" By The Fortress of Louisbourg Heritage Presentation Staff
THE HUISSIER
(June 30, 2003)
Glass in the 18th Century
By A Louisbourg Historian
It is felt that Crown Glass was the most common type of glass used in LOUISBOURG. Almost all 18th century plate glass was manufactured by one company (the Royal Plate Glass Company), which had been founded in 1665 under the patronage of Louis XIV. Glass is not typically a solid. It is a rigid liquid. The technique of Crown Glass was difficult in practice. The tools were much larger than their counterparts used for hollowware, and the whole operation was on a grander scale. The furnace occupied the centre of the shop. Kilns for the pots, ovens for fit, and annealing ovens were subsidiary to the main furnace, which was fed in from below. An assistant preheats the end of a blowing pipe before making a gather. A gentleman-blower, face shielded against heat, lengthens the bubble (the bosse) by rotating it rapidly cooling it over water. A second rolls it on the marver; a third blows it wide; and a fourth spins it open.