cane

Decorated rods of glass are referred to as cane.

Cane is typically produced using a torch, furnace and/or glory hole.

A gather of glass is created — usually with an internal pattern or design — and then stretched into long rods so that the design stretches the length of the rod. Often, the cane is twisted as it is pulled.

There are many styles of cane including lattimo – a cane that is made with twists of opaque white glass and occasional fine colored lines.

The primary use of cane is as a component in more complex glass objects. Many glass blowers will lay multiple lengths of cane side-by-side and then, rolling a gather of glass over the cane, pick up the rods onto the gather. The cane then becomes the design element for the final piece.

Cane can also be made with a hole in the middle (think drinking straw) and cut into short  pieces called furnace beads.