Perfume bottles in the making

How are they made?

The Egyptians who make these glass perfume bottles are trained from birth to take regular breaths - each EXACTLY the same volume........

NO that cannot be true - and it is not true!

Each perfume bottle is made with one breath, and each breath is similar, but unique - so are these perfume bottles.
Similar but unique also refers to the hand applied painting/details. These are made by people, not machines, so there is a difference in every piece. Each bottle reflects the personality of the highly skilled, highly individual craftsman who made it.

Watching these men at work is hypnotic.

Ahmed takes the still warm bottle from Mahmoud, and turns it around slowly looking for unique features that he will highlight or subdue when he adds the gold leaf or paint for his decoration.
He then turns to check the board on the left wall.
What pattern is this bottle closest to?
What colour is needed now for that pattern number?
Does he have that colour on his board at the moment?
He does and off he goes.

He dips the brush and brings up the barest amount of paint, holds the brush near the bottle and starts to turn the bottle.
"Its not the amount of paint you apply, but how much pressure you use and how steady you hold the brush", he tells me.

I watch him from the side, as he works. His left hand turning the bottle, his right holding the brush, all his attention focussed on applying one colour to one bottle - just for the moment, this little glass perfume bottle - in a little room, in a little factory in Cairo, Egypt - is the whole world.

Once the painting is finished, the bottle returns to the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees to 'fix' the paint - this is the difference from cheaper low temperature painting techniques - the critical time and temperature that make the colours permanent.