Glass History Essay

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There is evidence of glass making from as early as 4000 BC. Back then it was mostly used for the coating of stone beads. It was 1500 BC when the first hollow glass container was made. It was made by covering a sand core with a layer of molten glass. It was during the First Century BC that glass blowing became more common. At this time glass was high coloured due to the impurities of the raw materials that were used to make it. The first recorded colourless glass was made in First Century AD. The Romans were one of the most skilled in glass making and held most of the secrets. It wasn’t until the Roman Empire began to fall that the secrets began to leak out into Europe and the Middle East. At this time the greatest reputation for technical skill and artistic ability was held by the Venetians. A far amount of Venetian craftsmen left Italy to set up their own glassworks.

In Jarrow and Wearmouth, Britain there is evidence of glass works going back as far as 680 AD. There is also evidence of a glass industry in Weald and the forested areas of Surrey and Sussex around Chiddingford.

In the 1300’s Venetians made it illegal for glasses to be made with glass lenses in favour of the more expensive and valuable rock crystal.
1352 saw eyeglasses only being worn by the well-educated, very rich noblemen and the Italian clergy which shows how society affected the glass industry.
It was during the Renaissance that spectacles became more widely spread.
The biggest milestone in glass making was when George Ravenscroft invented lead crystal glass. He introduced lead into the raw materials used to make glass while trying to counter the effect of the clouding that sometimes took place when making glass. This new glass was softer and easier to d...

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... of glass. When taking all these elements and putting them together it is hard to believe that glass makers didn’t just give up. The determination and persistence of glass makers in the past, especially the Renaissance has made the glass industry what it is today. Without the discovery of the materials that made clear glass we would not have windows, drinking glasses and so much more the way we have them today. The things that influenced the making of glass in the Renaissance still really affect the glass industry today without us really even knowing it. Today glass is taken for granted. Unlike when it was first discovered we now walk past a glass window or pick up a wine glass without even thinking about its beauty or really even thinking of how it may have been made. At one time glass making was a very high art form but is now taken for granted in today’s world.

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