Verrerie en Bois (Wooden Glassworks), L’Operation de Faire le Cueillage avec la Felle et de l’alonger a` lauge (Pl. VIII) (The Operation of Gathering with the Felle and Extending it in the Lag)

Description

The engraving depicts the process of early glassworkers working within a wooden structure, removing the glass mass from the furnace, gathering it onto a rod, and stretching and shaping it while hot with hand tools. In Fig. 1, the craftsman's position between the furnace and hearth mass and the dark space where the glass melts reflects the ergonomic and thermal conditions of the production space. In Fig. 2, the worker, using a long metal blowpipe and a ladle-like collecting tool, straightens the hot glass mass within the wooden chute and forms it into a homogeneous shape. The French caption beneath the engraving emphasizes that the process of "collecting and stretching the glass in the chute" is being depicted.