GLASS AND GLASS-MAKING

ROMAN GLASSWARE -- 
CAGE UP -- 
FROM THE 4TH CENTURY AD

No other material is as versatile as glass. Thousand of years people have been working with glass from the smallest jewellery to glass windows as well as drinking vessels and ornamental sculptures.

Around the 3000 BC the Egyptians were making small glass beads and amulets to ward of sickness and danger.

1500 BC they progressed to make core-formed vessels. They are made by a build-up around a metal rod of thick core of sand or clay into the desired shape. Then it was dipped into molten glass or a thread of glass was wound round the core. The core removed which left a hollow vessel.

At the end of the 1st century the Syrians discovered to blow glass. They put a blob of molten glass on the end of a hollow tube and blew down the tube.

Various glass making techniques were developed and used. They were shared throughout the Roman Empire. Eventually similar type of glassware was made by 200 AD.

Bottles were made from tinged green, blue or brown glass to cover the impurity. They were able to produce clear glass but it was a more expensive process. The vast number of bottles was in a square form because they were easier to pack for transport.

MOLDAVIT 
NATURAL FORMED GLASS 
BY METEORITE IMPACT 
FROM BESONICE, BOHEMIA

GLASS OBSIDIAN 
FROM LAKE COUNTY,
 OREGON, USA

The Roman glassmaking technique was very sophisticated. Even nowadays some are not use because they are either too expensive or difficult. For instance, they made picture made with gold leaf put between two sheets of glass. Another technique they used were two layers of glass made of contrasting colours, put together and the top layer cut away to reveal the colour underneath. It is called cameo glass. This method was used for vessels.

The break-up of the Roman Empire in the 5th century also broke up the glassmaking industry. However, it saw a revival in the Middle Ages. Palaces, churches and cathedral were built with stained-glass windows. The bottles made in green glass were still produced but the nobility preferred the finer Venetian glass.

After the decline of the Roman Empire the secret of clear glass was lost. However the Venetians rediscovered it and they added manganese oxide to the mixture. The end product looked like the real rock crystal; therefore they called it 'cristallo'. They spread their knowledge all over Europe and by the 17th century it was made everywhere. The importance of Venetian glass declined.

In 1675 an Englishman, George Ravencroft, was adding lead to the mixture and discovered that it made a clear, heavy and brilliant glass. The glasscutter loved the new product because it was also soft enough which made it perfect for cutting. A further advantage of the new product was that after cutting it sparkled like crystal.

At the end of the 18th century, a technique was developed whereby pictures with gold leaf were put between two sheets of clear glass, by an Austrian Joseph Mildner.

In the 19th century, Bohemia produced mainly coloured and special effect glass. The Lithyakin glass was achieved by polished, opaque glass marbled in strong colours to imitate agate and other semi-precious stones. Clear glass was stained and when engraved the clear glass shown through. Bohemian glass engraving became world famous for its fantastically complexity in the 19th century.

The French invented Opaline glass. A translucent milky-white glass and with added metallic oxides it turned into pink, mauve, turquoise, green or another delicate colour.

Antonio Salviate revived all sorts of antique Venetian styles. Europeans reproduced the latticinio. A coloured glass cane in pre-arranged patterns was pick up on a gather of glass and incorporated in the finished piece.

French and English glassmaker achieved engraving deep into the glass and polished it which makes it blend with the tone of the glass. The product looks identical to rock crystal.

The most famous example of Roman cameo glass the Portland vase has arrived in England in 1783 and everybody tried to copy it. John Northwood and Philip Pargeteter were lucky to some extent but it showed cracks.

Henry William Stiegel was a pioneer in glassmaking in America As before there was little or no glass made. He made some fine pieces but never signed or dated them. Today, nobody is sure if the piece was made by him or not.

1820 a press mould was developed in America. A metal mould and the moulden glass was pored into and pressed down with a metal plunger. In Europe the technique was copied and the glass making was revolutionized. A mass-production followed and most of the people could afford drinking-glasses.

Louis Tiffany, an American, developed a new style. In 1880 he invented a new type of glass, called Favrile. It was a coloured glass with a metallic sheen.

Emile Galle, was one of the greatest Nouveau artists. He worked with opaque and semi-translucent glass and won international fame for his floral designs. He used botanical specimen to decorate his glassware. It was said the even a skilled botanist would have a job to identify it.

The Daum Brothers, a highly recognized Art Nouveau company at Nancy, produced a material called pate-de-verre. It was the first time since the Ancient Egyptians, A glass mixture for sculptures with subtle degrees of colouring and fine details.

Rene Lalique became famous for his sculptural glass vases. A wax mould which has to be broken to get the sculpture out. After a great success he moved to a larger factory in 1918. He furthered his ambition in bringing his design to a wider market but still being good quality and luxury. A colourless glass with contrast or semi-opaque glass. He worked till 1939 but has to stop because of the war.

Maurice Marinot was a painter and known as the wild beast. He changed to glass. He produced glass of fashionable geometric pattern.

Being the depression in the '20s and '30s the whole glass industries in America was in decline. However, the famous Steuben glassworks in New York was still successful with its blown, engraved glass.

The methods and knowledge advanced tremendously after 1945. They could produced glass more thinly and could be cut more elaborate.

Artist studios were attached to factories and prizes were won at industrial fairs until 1960. After that it was moved to museums and at an exhibition, prizes were rewarded. Harvey Littlejohn, an American, started the International Studio Glass Movement in 1958.

The first university studio-glass programme started at the University of Wisconsin because of that movement.   It received an enormous welcome and other Universities followed suit.

GLASS STAINED WINDOW FROM THE 16TH CENTURYAdd caption