David Reade

Blowing glass amid hot furnaces is all that David Reade has known since his teenage years. “When I was 16, I visited a glass studio on the Isle of Wight. I watched the master and it grabbed me completely,” he says. It took Reade three weeks to convince the studio to take on another apprentice, and a further seven years to learn the art. 40 years later, Reade, who moved to South Africa in 1984, is the country’s best-known glassblower. He creates both functional and sculptural works, as well as commissions for some of the country’s top alcohol, cosmetic and architectural brands.Reade makes his clear glass himself, from “true Cape sand”, and each piece starts as a ball of molten glass at the end of an iron pipe. Reade’s assistant then blows through the pipe, while he shapes the ball, using handheld tools.