How to make a Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball?

Colored glaze flower ball is a relatively new type of rich and colorful glass products. According to textual research, it appeared in Boshan during the Ming Dynasty and has won people's favor with its gorgeous color and unique shape. Boshan colored glaze flower ball is famous for its many varieties and exquisite production technology required.

Boshan Colored Glaze Flower BallBoshan Colored Glaze Museum

The prototype of the flower ball is spherical, that is, a transparent round crystal material with patterns consisting of colored glaze in it.

Flower Ball in Various ShapesBoshan Colored Glaze Museum

With the development of techniques and the diversified demand in the market, flower ball began to have different shapes.

There are in total 942 different kinds of Boshan colored glaze flower ball products with different specifications, styles and shapes, all of which are colorful and brilliant. The theme of styling has been expanded with more changes in hue, from things as small as fine grass, insect and fish to things as large as celestial stars, every product is ingenious, wonderful and vivid.

Round FurnaceBoshan Colored Glaze Museum

How is such a beautiful glass ball made?

Tools for Making Colored Glaze Flower BallBoshan Colored Glaze Museum

The tools and raw materials needed for making glazed balls include: melting furnace, heating furnace, furnace for annealing temperature, blowing chair, iron pipe, clamp, scissors, tweezers, worktable, iron rubbing board, wet newspaper, nail board, stained glass particles, etc.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Taking Out MaterialBoshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 1: Taking out material

Insert one end of the iron pipe into the melting furnace with temperature up to 1300℃ to stick the glass liquid.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Applying Material - 1Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 2: Applying material

First, cut a piece of material with scissors and let it drop into a bowl filled with stained glass particles.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Applying Material - 2Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Then put the remaining material in another bowl and cover it with pigment.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Applying Material - 3Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Place the iron pipe upright and glue together the two parts of the glass that were previously cut.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping - 1Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 3: Shaping

Use the iron rubbing plate to flatten the edges and bottom, then pull the bottom edges inward with tweezers.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping - 2Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Then use the paddle plate to form the bottom of the colored glaze flower ball.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping - 3Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Immerse the semi-finished product directly in water to cool down and finalize its shape, so that it can be wrapped again with glass liquid.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: WrappingBoshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 4: Wrapping

Put the iron pipe into the melting furnace and cover the bottom of the flower ball with a layer of glass liquid.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Applying Material Again - 1Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 5: Applying material again

Place the iron pipe vertically into a bowl full of stained glass particles.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Applying Material Again - 2Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

The whole bottom of the ball is covered with pigments.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping Again - 1Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 6: Shaping

After flattening the ball with a rubbing board, a nail board (a board covered with long nails) is used to drill holes to form bubbles.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping Again - 2Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Then use the rubbing board to press and gather the semi-finished products from outside to inside.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping Again - 3Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Use scissors to cut off the unnecessary part at the top of the glass ball.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping Again - 4Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

At this point, the bubbles formed by pinning holes with nail board become the shape of slender strips and converge to a point at the top of the ball.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping Again - 5Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Then prick the top of the semi-finished product with the tip of the tweezers, so that the slender strip-shaped bubbles are like a fountain, erupting innumerable sprays from the bottom up.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Shaping Again - 6Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Several holes are evenly pierced around the semi-finished product in order to form beautiful bubbles in the later stage.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Wrapping the Material Again - 1Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 7: Wrapping the material again

Wrap a layer of glass liquid again from the furnace.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Wrapping the Material Again - 2Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Use wet newspaper and paddle board to reduce the temperature. At this moment, the colored glaze flower ball is basically completed.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Unloading - 1Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 8: Unloading

Finally, pinch the place where the bottom of the ball connects with the iron pipe with pliers.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Unloading - 2Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Then gently tap on the pipe with pliers, and the colored glaze flower ball falls off.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Cooling down - 1Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

Step 9: Cooling down

Fork the glazed ball up with a long-handled iron fork and send it into the furnace for annealing temperature for a period of 3 days in order to cool it down, eliminate stress and prevent cracking.

Production Process of Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball: Cooling down - 2Boshan Colored Glaze Museum

A colored glaze flower ball is done!

Boshan Colored Glaze Flower Ball with Abstract PatternsBoshan Colored Glaze Museum

The crystal outside the colored glaze flower ball is as clear as water and as bright as a mirror. Their various shapes are vivid with colorful patterns inside. As an ornament, it can be kept for long time and always looks like a new product.

Credits: Story

Zhang Lei and Lan Xiaofang

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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