A few years ago, my sister and I took an overnight bus from Torreon to Guadalajara, one of Mexico's main centers for hand blown glass. After a nine-hour ride, we arrived in Tonala, a suburb of Guadalajara known for its artisan markets. We shopped all day, then hopped on a bus back to Torreon. Our findings totaled 52 pieces of glassware, and odds and ends of other artisan crafts.
But the glassware. Oh the glassware.
It's spectacular. Mexico is known for its hand blown glasses, pitchers, vases, and other decorative pieces. It's a craft that first started here as early as 1535, when the Spanish introduced it.
For a long time, the final product was called "bubble glass," referring to the many bubbles that would be made as the artisan blew it into shape. Today, the work has been refined, but almost all pieces still contain a small bubble or two. No two glasses are alike.
To make a glass, the artisan takes a long pipe and blows through it into a hot mass of molten glass. As he blows, he turns the pipe, causing the glass to take on a different shape. As the glass cools, it retains its new form.
The most common glassware here comes with a bright blue band along the top edge of the piece. Glasses also come in other colors and some even have designs, including stripes, swirls, and splattered effects. Most markets in Mexico sell some type of glassware. In cities such as Guadalajara and Los Cabos, you can visit the factory and see the artisans at work before making a purchase.
I've been building up my glassware collection during our time in Mexico. The above picture shows a few of the many pieces I own. I still have a long list, of course, of other things to get in the glass department.
Check out this website to see more examples of Mexican glassware.
Oh, and a note to Guadalajara: I'll be back.
This is part of an ongoing sporadic series on why I 'heart' Mexico. See more things that I love about Mexico here.
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