Monday 13 June 2011

Altaglass

I have to write about an awesome glass company from my neck of the woods - Medicine Hat, Alberta - called the Altaglass Manufacturing Company. This beautiful glassware item is just one of the many being collected since the plant closed in 1988.


John Furch, the company founder, came to Canada from Czechoslavakia in 1949. He was attracted by the cheap and abundant supply of natural gas offered by Medicine Hat. Altaglass used about 500,000 cubic feet of gas a month to produce the high temperatures needed in the melting furnaces. 

With the help of his daughter and son-in-law and a small number of employees, Furch produced many fantastic blown glass vases, bowls and artglass. The company also made hand-shaped glass birds and animals. 

There's a wonderful website dedicated to Altaglass, which has a detailed history of the owners and talented glassblowers that worked there. It also has a gallery of pieces produced if you would like to see more of their beautiful work.

If you would like to buy the item pictured here, please check out my Etsy shop.

3 comments:

  1. Pretty glass bowl, loved hearing the story behind it.

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  2. It's a really pretty bowl! I love the color. I think glassblowing is a fascinating art.

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