France · Glass arts; Mouth-blown glass; Architectural glass
Soufflage de Verre à la Façon Ancienne — Verrerie de Saint-Just
Mouth-blown flat glass produced by the cylinder (manchon) method: a glassblower inflates a gather into a cylinder, cuts it lengthwise, and allows it to flatten in a kiln. The result is glass with natural bubbles, striations, and color variation — the only glass that can authentically restore medieval cathedral windows. Verrerie de Saint-Just is one of the last three manufacturers of this glass in the world.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not listed
A contemporary studio practice by Karine, working as La Dentellière de Carton near Mougins on the French Riviera.
Épernay, in the Marne department, is home to the last operating corsetry workshop in France — the Chantelle factory, where roughly 85 seamstresses hand- and machine-construct structured lingerie using techniques with no remaining external…
The hand-cutting, hand-stitching, and finishing of fine leather goods in France, centered on le point sellier (the saddle stitch) — a technique dating to the 13th century, developed originally for saddle-making, in which two needles share…
The making of needle lace in the Point de France tradition — the French royal lace established by Colbert in 1665 to replace Venetian lace imports and sustain the French state finances.
The tradition of the Paris haute couture embroidery house — the maison de broderie that maintains archives of historical stitch techniques and materials; develops new embroidery for each couture season; and trains the brodeurs who execute…
The making of luxury fans — the assembly of the monture (fan sticks, in ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, or wood) with the feuille (fan leaf, in paper; silk; or lace) in the Paris tradition.
A Boshan (Zibo, Shandong) lampworked glass tradition producing spherical glass "flower balls" -- solid or hollow orbs encasing miniature flowers, insects, fish, or other motifs formed from colored glass rods and worked over an open flame.
The making of chandeliers from hand-blown, hand-cut lead crystal components mounted on a metal frame, as practiced in North Bohemia's Crystal Valley (Kamenický Šenov and Nový Bor).
A wooden-lattice stained-glass mosaic technique unique to Sheki, in Azerbaijan's Greater Caucasus, in which colored glass is set into an interlocking wooden frame — walnut, pistachio, or plane-tree wood, depending on the workshop —…
The historically all-female Venetian trade of stringing loose Murano glass beads (conterie) into saleable strands, using 24-30 long needles worked simultaneously from a bead-filled tray held in the lap — a distinct craft from the lampwork…
Kaca Kristal is a contemporary Malaysian crystal-glass craft centered on Langkawi Island, Kedah, built on pull-and-pinch hand-shaping and free-blown glassblowing technique.
The Val-Saint-Lambert crystal glass tradition — the making and cutting of the prestigious Belgian lead crystal produced at the Val-Saint-Lambert factory (established 1826 at a former Cistercian abbey near Liège), whose specific deep-cut…