Malfatti

Malfatti Glass was created by the Ten Willow Studio creative team of Daniel Spitzer, glassblower and former Dale Chihuly crew member, and Jill Reynolds, an award-winning visual artist known for her innovative use of flameworked glass all from their studio in Beacon, New York.

Named ‘Malfatti' which is a type of hand-rolled dumpling; literally meaning, “misshapen" in Italian, their wonky, hand-blown glass is made of light-weight, heat-tolerant but durable borosilicate glass, which is traditionally used in laboratory equipment.

Each Malfatti Glass is uniquely shaped, the result of having been made in a flame using only hand tools and the breath of the artisan. Strong yet surprisingly soft in the hand, these lightweight glasses are delicate yet durable.

The couple initially started out making glass sculptures with their glassware coming into fruition by chance:“I was tired of walking back and forth from the studio to the kitchen everytime I wanted water”, so she decided to make herself a glass - It was a tall narrow vessel with an asymmetric bend. Nothing special, Reynolds thought and left it by the sink in her studio. But pretty soon she noticed than when people came to visit and look at her art, they always commented on the glass. Reynolds made a few more glasses, none exact duplicates, as gifts for friends. They were a huge hit. She then took a batch to a craft fair and they quickly sold out. “Thats when we realised there was a business here”.

Each mouth-blown glass is available in Clear or ‘Perlina’ - up to five glass ‘pearls’ are randomly studded into each glass ensuring no two glasses are alike.

The result is a beautifully irregular and elegant glass for wine, water, cocktails & spirits.