Waterford Crystal - Visitor Centre

Special Commissions - Cinderella's Carriage

In October 2000, we started work on a piece that would evoke the notion of a childhood fairytale. The image, which came to mind, was the carriage, which took Cinderella to the Ball.

This piece took over 12 weeks to complete and has been interpreted by Michael Murphy in every detail to make the journey a magical and romantic encounter.

Pulled by six stately horses, the carriage is replicated in every detail, and artistically finished with a rich array of traditional Waterford hob-nailed diamond cutting. The piece is finished by Michael and evokes magic and wonder which we all remember from our childhoods.

Just in case there was truth in that tale of the carriage turning into a Pumpkin on the stroke of Twelve, Michael informed us that he never worked past Midnight while completing this project!


�The initial stage of creating a Claret decanter involves taking a small amount of molten crystal on the blowing rod and forming it into a small ball shape. Then a second gather of molten crystal is taken and this is pre-shaped using wooden tools made of Beach and Pear wood.		After the piece is pre shaped it is then blown into a mould so that is fills out to the full shape of the mould; this stage of the blowing process is vital as the thickness of the crystal depends on the skill and the dexterity of the craftsman. Next comes the handle, which is another amount of molten crystal that has been shaped into along cylindrical shape and attached to the side of the decanter.		As the handle cools, it is manually teased into the shape of an arch, until both sides of the handle have been firmly attached�.