About this Glass:
These pieces of glass were made by a "warm" glass technique known as "glass fusing". This is unlike glass blowing, a "hot" glass process, which takes place at much higher temperatures where shaping begins with molten glass.
"Glass Fusing" begins with sheets of clear or colored glass. Each piece is formed in several stages by cutting the glass, and assembling, heating, detailing, reheating, and eventually slumping (shaping in or over a mold) the glass in a kiln at temperatures between 1200ºF - 1500ºF. (649ºC - 820ºC). Pieces are generally fired from two to five or six times with each firing requiring a 24-hour cycle of heating and cooling.
Most of these platters and plates are made by capturing tiny bubbles between two layers of glass, making these glass pieces sturdier than your good crystal. They are designed to be used or can be just looked at, as you please. I use my platters regularly.
However, while sturdier, they are made of glass that IS NOT TEMPERED. Therefore, like good crystal, they do not handle abrupt or extreme changes in temperature from hot to cold. In other words, don't put hot food on them while they are sitting on cold counters!
Additionally, I recommend hand washing them (although some people do successfully machine wash them) and they will give you many years of pleasure
