Diderot Encyclopedia: Glasshouse Exterior

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Diderot Encyclopedia: Glasshouse Exterior
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Diderot: 1 of 6

This is #1 of 6 engravings re-printed by the Corning Glass Center from originals in the Corning Museum of Glass, and released as "The Art of Glassmaking 1751-1772 / A Portfolio of Prints from the Diderot Encyclopedia". I added the original legends in French (from the ARTFL Encyclopédie Project) and my own loose English translations and commentary. The small image below links to a 3.7MB, 300DPI scan.

Exterior of eighteenth-century French crown-glass factory

Verrerie en bois, Grande Verrerie à Vitres, ou en Plats. Extérieur d'une Halle.
Wood-burning glasshouse, exterior of large-glassware factory with glass windows.

Extérieur d'une halle de grande Verrerie à plats pour les vitres.
a		halle de la grande Verrerie.
b	petite halle servant d'entrée à la grande Verrerie.
c	berceau composé de feuillages, sous lequel les gentilshommes verriers prennent le repos & le frais.
d	gentilshommes verriers prenant le frais.
e	bâtimens ou magasins servant à serrer les marchandises & à faire les pots.
f	petite mare d'eau servant à rafraîchir les fers, poches, pinces, & autres ustensiles pour le service du four.
g	fers & poches sur le bord de la mare.
h	verres emballés dans le panier prêt à partir.

Exterior of a crown-glass factory with glass windows.
a		main building housing the furnace—note the smoke escaping through holes in the roof.
b	covered entrances to the main hall.
c	leafed arbor under which the glassmakers rest & take fresh air.
d	glass workers getting some fresh air.
e	building for storage and slowly drying pots.
f	pond for water supply to cool tools.
g	metal tools cooling at the pond's edge.
h	finished glass, packed in baskets and ready to ship.

Wood-burning glass works are always located in or next to their fuel supply—a woods—and close to a water source. This type, a verrerie à pivette, burns either ordinary seasoned wood or oven-dried sticks (pivettes).

To make pivettes, green sticks about 18" long are stored in the warmest part of the hall—the rafters above the furnace—until baked dry. When done, they are throw down into a large storage area, accessible from ground level.