Recycled glass platter

Description

This platter has been hand-crafted in Cumbria, England from fused recycled (mostly bottle) glass.  We have occasionally used discarded car windows or float glass from old windows or conservatories.  Each piece is unique.

We use a variety of bottles: beer, cider, wine, gin, water…  All the bottles come from our own not inconsiderable efforts to empty them.  In addition, our friends, family and a few local pubs make a significant contribution to our bottle supplies.

We soak the labels off the bottles and wash them by hand.  Then we break and / or cut them and arrange the bits of glass in the kiln to a specific pattern and shape.  We then fire this arrangement to produce a flat piece of glass.  Next, we smooth the edges of this flat piece of glass and sometimes paint it with glass enamels or metallic lustres.  We then fire it one more time to give it the final shape and look.