Powders of vitrifiable color can be used to decorate either the surface or the body of molten glass. The technique consists of laying the powders out on the marver and then rolling the parison over them to produce an amalgamation of the glass and the powder.

This technique was developed between 1900 and 1914 by the Daum brothers. They perfected a process called “vitrification des poudres” whose aim was to create a superficial layer of color out of which motifs could be produced by acid etching and/or wheel grinding, thereby avoiding the more difficult technique of cased glass. The Schneider brothers, in a production method typical of the 1920’s, used powders in the mass of molten glass to achieve a cloudy decor in variegated colors as if dabbed by the brush of an impressionist painter.

Currently Marisa and Alain Bégou are using this technique in a pictorial manner to create veritable paintings. Marisa meticulously lays out the powders on the marver before Alain with all the required dexterity rolls over them with his parison.

Daum, Schneider, Begou