Pair Of Realistic Glass Rainier Cherries With Conjoined Copper Wire Stems
This listing is for One (1) joined pair of glass Rainier Cherries.
More than one pair is shown in some pictures so that you can see the fruit from several angles.
These glass Rainier Cherries are the size you would find in the grocery store - about 1 inch (25mm) in diameter.
Your Rainier Cherries will be partly yellow with a blush of raspberry pink. The lighter areas are where the cherry has been shaded by the leaves.
Each of these solid glass cherry sculptures is made one at a time by melting a rod of yellow Italian glass in the flame of a torch. In order to make these particular cherries, first I must created the joined stems. The two pieces of copper wire are mated together in my kiln at 1778 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's not possible to make two glass cherries directly onto the conjoined copper wire stems, since the first cherry would crack (due to uncontrolled cooling) while the second cherry was being made. Instead I make the cherries separately on stainless steel mandrels. This is actually more difficult and time consuming because I must make a large, heavy cherry on a tiny (1mm) wire without ever applying enough pressure to crack the clay release agent.
After the cherries and wires have been cooled and cleaned, I sculpt and polish the stems. Then I permanently fasten the stems into the cherries with two-part epoxy.
Your glass Rainier Cherries will have a translucent quality just like real Rainier and Queen Anne cherries do. The surface blush of pink to darker red will be created by applying as many as twenty coats of powdered red transparent glass. During this time-consuming process each coat must be melted in smoothly before applying the next. Since no paint is used on the glass cherries, the color will not rub, flake or chip off. No two glass cherries are ever exactly alike.
The photos above are representative of the glass cherries I make in this style. THE SCULPTURE YOU RECEIVE WILL BE SIMILAR TO, BUT NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS, THE ONE(S) SHOWN ABOVE.
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD
These glass cherries are lifelike enough to fool adults at first glance. Never display these glass cherries where they could be confused with real fruit. Never put them in your mouth, even for fun, or allow anyone else to do so. Make sure to keep them out of the reach of children of any age.