AvantiShops.com

Coming September 1st - a new line of servingware made from reclaimed glass. Shelf glass and window glass is called “float glass” in the industry. Back in 1959, Pilkington Glass discovered a way to make both sides of a sheet of glass perfectly smooth…. the glass is poured out onto a bed of molten tin. So the resulting product has an “air side” and a “tin side.” The tin side fluoresces when viewed with a shortwave UV light.

But this makes the glass itself almost non-recycleable. The tin becomes an impurity. The glass can only be crushed for recycling. This is done in a couple places in North America, and the result (basically sand) is used in roadbuilding. The glass can’t be successfully remelted for use in commercial operations. What to do? It goes to landfills.

There are a few artisan companies that make tableware from float glass, but the Avanti line is a little different. Called Vetro Nuovo, it features a 22k gold border fired onto the rims of each piece. This is colloidal gold, gold in a liquid suspension, painted onto the glass and adhered in a kiln firing. Naturally, they are handwash items. (Dishwasher detergent is extremely abrasive, and anything decorated with gold or made of crystal should not go into the dishwasher!)

To go along with the tableware, I’ve created some elegant napkin rings using some of the glass beads that are made here, the little pressed beads in round, diamond and square shapes. This line is named Bella! I’ve had them down in the gallery, and have sold most of the first lot, and have orders for more…. a good sign. But…… you’ll have to wait for the launch announcement to see!