During my first weeks of glassblowing in July of 2019, I read a book about Dante Marioni in the library at the Penland School of Craft. Lino Tagliapietra was quoted along the lines of, “if you make nothing but goblets for seven years, you will be able to make anything in glass.” When I arrived at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for my post-bacc year in the Fall of 2019, I decided to test this wisdom. I set out on a quest to use goblet-making as a tool for technical practice, and to keep a record of the objects I produced as a way to track my learning process. I had only taken my first gathers three months prior, and I wanted to prove myself through disciplined practice. I had intended to make 100 goblets during my time at UArts, but my time in that hot shop was unfortunately cut off by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, I managed to complete 50, which is still a very nice round number. Each of these objects was made in the hot shop behind Hamilton Hall at the University of the Arts, except for one, which I made at the Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass over winter break in January of 2020. I cannot remember exactly what number goblet it was, somewhere between 25-30 I’d guess. I completed my 49th and 50th goblets on March 12, 2020, and we were locked out of the studios the following day.
The limitations for the goblets were as follows:
-the goblet must be “built off the pipe,” meaning the cup of the bubble was blown on the blowpipe, to which bits were added directly for the stem, followed by a bubble to open and form a foot. This is considered in many ways more difficult than making the cup, stem, and foot separately, to be attached together on a punty rod.
-the goblet must hold some amount of liquid (you will notice some may only hold a tablespoon or two, but that is enough to count!)
-The goblet must stand on a blown foot on its own (you will notice a goblet with only half a blown foot… it cracked upon loading into the annealer, but still stood! it counts!)
-the goblet must be made entirely in clear glass
-each goblet’s foot (or half-foot, in the case of #2) is engraved with its number, thus preserving the chronology despite haphazard storage and disorganized packing systems.
While 50 goblets are shown in this project, they represent also the couple of hundred goblets that hit the floor, fell into the glory hole, or otherwise met their demise during the glassblowing process. These failures were integral to the success of the 50. I want to thank everyone who assisted me over the 4 months or so that I worked towards this collection. I was persistent to a fault at times, and I appreciate everyone who made me rest when I was ill or had crippling back spasms.
I would not have been able to complete these 50 goblets without the excellent support and hot shop assistance from Zach Shenfield. The frustrating/magical/transformative times we had making these goblets were the basis of a wonderful friendship and I’m so lucky to have had him as my blow partner!
Many people were in and out of the hot shop that either worked as my main assistant for the day, watched and offered moral support, paddled, brought bits, got the kiln doors, etc. Thank you to shop Tech Laura Beth Konopinski, Sam Gualtieri, and Kate Crankshaw. Thank you Julien Kimble, Christie Ciberey, and Dana Grabski for being incredible students and peers, and for always jumping at a chance to lend a hand. Thank you also to Kwun Lan Wong for assisting me with the goblet I made at Corning! I want to especially thank Professor Daniel Clayman for putting up with my ambitious nonsense.