Origami Serving Bowl With Horseshoe Nails On Black Art Glass

This sophisticated serving bowl is part of our Horseshoe Collection of equestrian home decor. It is 6.5″ x 6.5″.

“Understatement” is the word to describe this piece, It begins with the shape of the bowl, which is inspired by an origami folding paper box. Following on that theme, the surface decoration consists soley of four, large horseshoe nails. It will look elegant when used as a serving dish, but it will express its true nature best when displayed on a plate stand where its dignified design can be fully appreciated.

Creating it was a 5-step process.
Selecting the Glass: Two pieces of glass were cut to form the bowl, one black and the other black with a silver iridescent coating.
Creating the Image: The horseshoe nails were created using the iridescent piece of black glass. The nails were protected with a protective coating while the rest of the plate had its silver coating removed using a chemical etching process. When that process was complete, the covering was removed and the nails, reflective coating intact. The etched piece was then placed on top of the plain black glass in preparation for firing.
Fusing in the Kiln: The two layers were placed in a kiln and heated to 1475 F, the temperature at which the glass melts and the layers fused together.
Shaping the Bowl: At this point the piece was still flat. To create a bowl it was fired one more time. It was placed on a mold and heated to 1250 degrees (a process known as slumping). At this temperature the glass softens and gravity causes it to sink into the mold and assume its final shape.