The art of forcibly exhaling through a metal tube stuck in a glob of molten glass to create vessels that can contain stuff, particularly liquid stuff, was invented by Syrian craftspeople in Sidon and Babylon sometime between 27 BC and 14 AD. Ancient Romans copied the technique and made glassblowing a major part of their economy. The concept of having hard, clean, and secure containers for moving around messy things like wine and olive oil was revolutionary.
Glass containers of infinite sizes and designs became the backbone of economic trade between the Western hemisphere and Asia for centuries. Industrialization and automation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries made glassware a common commodity that we now take for granted.
In the early 1960s, Harvey Littleton created what became known as the Studio Glass Movement. The concept of studio glass is an artistic approach to creating three-dimensional glass sculptures designed to make decorative statements. The initial idea of studio glass was grounded in creating items with beautiful aesthetics that typically did not have a practical function.
It did not take long for glass artisans to make the leap from making beautiful objects that had no practical purpose to making objects that were beautiful and practical. Early pipes for smoking tobacco, cannabis, and other herbs were made of clay, stone, or wood. Glass pipes started appearing in the 1960s, and the first glass pipe was patented in 1977.
The negative cultural stigma around cannabis quickly caught up with the glassware used to consume it. Although objects made from glass were not technically illegal — even if they were designed to smoke weed — they were considered “paraphernalia” and were prosecuted as one of many losing battles in the war on drugs. At least for a while.
The idea of a “head shop” or a place where you could buy things that made smoking marijuana enjoyable was a breakthrough concept. While weed was illegal, the glass used to smoke it was not.
Fast forward from the foggy time of illegal weed to the sunshine of adult-use-recreational-legal-weed today. An impressive coterie of glass blowing artisans have created a riot of beautiful and mostly practical objects that make smoking weed extremely enjoyable.
My hometown of Westerly has a small business that sells outstanding artisan glassware for smoking weed. I spoke with Henry Derix, the owner of Westerly’s Sesh Gallery, to get some insights about glassware that weed smokers use. Comments have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Lenny Brennan (Motif): How long have you been in business?
Henry Derix: Six years.
Motif: How did you get into this business?
HD: I had a medical cannabis card in college and became fascinated with glass pipes.
Motif: Who are your customers?
HD: The true glass connoisseur who’s looking for high-quality craftsmanship from an artist, true hash and weed connoisseurs, people who are super interested in glass art, and people learning how to smoke hash correctly without waste or misuse or harm.
Motif: Who are the artisans that make the items you sell?
HD: Glass blowers from all over the world. I sell glass made by artisans in the US, Japan, Iceland, and Spain, among other places.
Motif: Do you have personal or one-on-one relationships with any of the artisans?
HD: Definitely. There is a local glass blower in Richmond, RI who makes amazing pieces.
Motif: What are your best-selling products?
HD: Quartz nails, rigs by amazing artists all over the globe.
Motif: Any idea what proportion of your customers use cannabis, in any form?
HD: 100%.
Motif: Did you see a bump in business after recreational weed was legalized?
HD: No, people who smoke weed smoked weed before.
Motif: Do you have a busy season or time of year?
HD: Summer.
Motif: What should I know about glassware and weed that I did not ask you?
HD: People who used to collect glassware for cannabis consumption are not buying like they used to.
People are not spending money on collectables like they did a few years ago.
Motif: Anything else?
HD: Yes. Check out OPM Glass in Providence, near the Johnson & Wales campus. OPM stands for Open People’s Minds. It is a museum of beautiful and impressive glassware made by talented artisans.
Motif: Your shop looks like an art gallery as much as a store. Which is it?
HD: Aren’t paintings for sale in most art galleries?
Motif: This has nothing to do with artisan glassware for smoking weed, but…why are rolling papers so hard to find around here?
HD: Rhode Island cigarette tax laws. Each leaf of rolling paper is taxed at the same rate as an individual cigarette. A pack of 100 rolling papers has five times the tax of a typical pack of 20 cigarettes.
Motif: Thanks, Henry. Motif readers, if you find yourself in Westerly, make it a point to stop in and check out Sesh and talk to Henry about glassware for consuming weed.
Henry’s Sesh gallery and store is located at 27 Railroad Ave, Westerly, (401) 556-3363.
