FAQ

Liuli means crystal in Chinese. Art pieces created from the liuli material produce a mystifying and indescribable experience. The unique crystalline glass reacts to light, reflecting a multifaceted contrast of light and shadow that no other medium can create.

LIULI Crystal Art was established in 1987 in Taiwan, proudly fusing cultural heritage and contemporary aesthetics. To us, liuli is more than a material or creative medium — it is a state of being, a form of life.

LIULI uses a 12-step pâte de verre process. The advantage of this technique is the potential for incredible detail. The unique color blends and gradients of each individually cast piece result from the casting and kiln-firing process. Artists aim to perfect a natural and uninhibited flow of color in each glass piece during these stages.

Every design is a self-contained and uniquely handcrafted work — from sketching and sculpting through casting to final touches. Fluid color palettes and naturally forming bubbles occur organically, resulting in totally unique artistic concepts in each work.

In the pâte de verre style of casting crystal glass, bubbles are a naturally occurring element. We believe this organic effect possesses the strongest feeling of the artwork's life force, as if the pieces breathe through the bubbles.

Each art piece is rich with both cultural and philosophical significance. Behind every low-relief, color contrast, subject, and even the negative spaces are layers of historical or cultural context and blessings of happiness, fortune, and gratitude.

Each LIULI artwork possesses elements — bubbles, color blends, dimensions, and composition — that play with surrounding light in unique ways. Appropriate lighting may be ambient, direct, artificial, natural, or a combination. Display acrylic bases in various sizes may be available; speak with us for interior design ideas for your piece.

LIULI's signature pâte de verre method typically involves repeated firing at 2,500°F. Transparent crystal is often used as the base; in subsequent firings, metals are added to achieve color by oxidization — cobalt for blue, manganese for violet, pure gold for deep crimson. Colors produced are crystallized and never fading.

Depending on size, design intricacy, and color blends, some pieces may take three months or longer in the kiln — not including design and sculpting time.

Machine-cut crystal often relies on bright shine as its primary feature. Pâte de verre crystal casting invites free-flowing color blending with complex aesthetics, interplaying light and shadow.

Liuli refers to hand-crafted glass art rooted in cultural tradition and creative craftsmanship — defined by artistic process and cultural meaning, not chemical composition alone. Crystal glass is a technical term for glass containing a minimum percentage of lead oxide (typically ≥24%). Some Liuli artworks meet this standard; the term Liuli itself emphasizes artistic heritage over industrial classification.

Lead content used in art pieces is cast at extremely high temperatures and subsequently cooled, making the release of lead particles in normal everyday use very unlikely. We recommend not storing beverages with very high alcohol content in leaded crystal for extended periods, and avoiding exposure to liquids over 60°C (140°F). For everyday tableware, consider LIULI LIVING lines designed for daily use.

Out of respect for studio designers' originality, we do not engrave on the art pieces themselves. Crystal and acrylic bases of various sizes may be engraved with wording (not graphics) where available. Please contact us for engraving availability and lead times.