Nancy was given this lovely glass bell by a close friend. It is clear blown glass, seven inches high, with a tall slim curved handle with one knop on top. About one inch down from the top it has a one-inch section with green swirled striping. The elegant clapper is one-piece blown glass, and it hooks onto or off of a perfectly round glass loop blown into the top of the bell.

Etched in small print along the bottom rim of the bell is “Gordon Smith 1993.”

Next step: research, which led to, of all places, Mayo Clinic! Glassblowing, a craft thousands of years old, has been documented at Mayo Clinic since 1920. It is a fundamental tool in laboratory research; while developments in the glass industry in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries made possible the mass production of high-quality standard “hollow ware” such as beakers and flasks, the creation of high-technology custom-designed “lamp blown” glass instruments remains linked to human hands and human ingenuity.

Mr. Gordon Smith, who was Mayo Glassblower in Residence from 1966-1999 put it this way: “Machines will never replace the custom work that human hands can do.” Fortunately, however, Mr. Smith also appreciated the artistic aspect of glassblowing and created glass figures such as flowers, animals, dancers, bells, and wedding cake toppers at home. Nancy feels lucky to have one of Mr. Smith’s artistic creations.