creation

Philips glass

The SBHK study collection contains a glass piece, originating from the Valkema Archive, which was made using façon de Venise techniques by Anthony Shafermeyer during the 1997 Drinkglas (Drinking Glass) exhibition in Leerdam. He used a glass formula developed by Philips for glass workshops. It had a low melting point and was suitable for hand production, allowing very thin-walled objects to be made.

However, the formula proved to be highly unstable. This object now shows clear signs of atmospheric degradation, appearing dull and slippery due to microscopic droplets on the surface. At the time, it was claimed that this Philips glass could be stabilised using iron chloride vapours. This has since been shown not to be the case.