Glasriket - The Kingdom of Glass in Småland

A T    O R R E F O R S     G L A S S W O R K S

Hugh had a chance to try his hand at blowing glass, with the help of an apprentice from the works.  It took a lot of time, and the finished product didn't look like this at all.  Hugh twirled the rod and flared the glass himself, resulting in a bowl with a scalloped shape -really beautiful, and, it survived the shipment home!

   

At Kosta Boda glassworks, Hugh and I found a few new artists we loved, especially Bertil Vallien.  Some of his work from the Kosta gallery is below; now some of it is in our living room.

Hugh also got to take a turn with the glass rod at the evening hyttsill, a traditional dinner inside the glassworks.  There are glassworks big and small all over Småland, and long ago, they were places to gather at the end of the day, as well as

places to work.  The cooling ovens were just the right temperature for baking herring and potatoes; beer and curdcake finished the meal.  An accordianist had everyone at our dinner in stitches with his songs, and everyone sang along (including us, humming the tune).  There's a hyttsill every night of the week somewhere in Glasriket.