An Ancient Wood Fired Furnace Build

A collaborative project between Lulu, the PEGG (The Post Disciplinary and Experimental Glass Group) and glass blowers. Together, they built an ancient wood fired furnace to melt and blow some of Lulu’s unique glass recipes - which she had been researching as part of her MA in Material Futures.

For this particular build they were working with glass made from raw materials sourced in and around the River Thames, such as waste mussel shells, wood ash and local sands - also known as Thames Glass. The core members of the planning and build included Lulu, members of the PEGG; John Pearson, Dr Chloe Duckworth, Dr Camilla Bertini, Victoria Lucas and Elenora Montanari and glass blowers Sacha Delabre, Matteo Maurin and Rosie Power. 

‘How can we make glass from local and waste materials, whilst taking influence from Ancient methodologies?’

The main aim of the project was to test different glass recipes and to build a furnace to create some glass artefact/s to showcase at The International Festival of Glass 2022.  This was an exciting opportunity to showcase how old methodologies can be applied today, with dedicated  expertise and furnace building skills from the PEGG.

It was also in support of Lulu’s MA thesis research question: ‘How can we make glass from local and waste materials, whilst taking influence from Ancient methodologies?’ As 2022 saw the arrival of the United Nations International Year of Glass, this project explored the benefit of working with local materials, local production and the local community within the glass industry, as well as raising some new exciting possibilities for the future of the material itself.