琉璃 (Liuli)
Liuli (琉璃) is Taiwan's contemporary cast art glass, adapting the ancient pâte de verre (paste of glass) casting technique to Chinese Buddhist and Taoist iconography; it was established in 1987 by Loretta Yang and Chang Yi through their Liuligongfang studio. Unlike European pâte de verre which typically uses glass powder pressed into molds, the Taiwan liuli tradition uses a lost-wax casting process: a wax model is coated in investment plaster, the wax burned out, and glass poured (or packed as frit) into the mold cavity. The color depth in cast glass is determined by the thickness of glass in each section — thin sections appear lighter; thick sections darker — and the mold design must account for this thickness-to-color relationship in three dimensions. Experienced Taiwan liuli designers read their 3D designs in color-by-thickness before the mold is made — a mental visualization skill.
Risk level: Endangered · Taiwan national ICH list (as contemporary craft); not UNESCO inscribed
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