by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: May 19, 2009   Last Updated: May 23, 2009

Glass Blowing: An Ancient Art


Glass blowing, the mere mention of this subject is steeped in mystery. Not just mystery, but power and secrecy too. In this short article I will endeavour to look back at the history of glass blowing, from the dim and distant past, through to the modern era.

Glass, in its natural form, has existed for nigh on Millenia, or since the beginning of recorded time. The exact moment that certain types of rocks began to melt, due to 'high temperature phenomena, caused by, meteor strikes, volcanic eruptions or strikes by lightning, and then cool down and solidify at a very fast rate, is not really known. But, what is known is that Stone-Aged Man used these rocks {called

obisidan}. This material is of volcanic origin, and is also known as Hyalopsite, Mountain Mahogany {or Iceland Agate} and Tektites. Glass that is formed naturally, and is from extra-terrestrial origin, is also called Obsidianites}. It is believed that Stone-Aged Man turned these rocks into cutting tools.

According to Pliny, the ancient Roman-historian, {AD 23-79}, merchants from Phoenicia, that were transporting stone, discovered glass by sheer accident. It was round about the region of Syria - 5000BC, that Pliny tells of how the merchants - when they landed - placed cooking pots on blocks of nitrate. Because the fire threw out such an intense heat, the blocks, in time, melted to form a sort of liquid that mixed with the sand on the beach. This liquid was opaque.

Man-Made Glass
The Birth of a New Craft

3500 BC and the earliest known man-made glass objects are created. Mostly, these were non-transparent beads {which where found in Eastern Mesopotamia, and Egypt}. The basic raw materials of glass were being used, in the main, to produce glazes on vases and pots that were being created at this particular point in time. The finding of glass could have been coincidental as calciferous sand could have found its way into an overheated kiln. This would have combined with soda to form an overheated coloured glazed look on the ceramics. Phoenician sailors and merchants then spread this new art form right along the coast of the Mediterranean.

The oldest fragments of glass vases have been dated back to the 16th Century BC.{which was the 2nd Millennium BC}. These fragments were discovered in Mesopotamia. Glass production which was hollow in form {hollow glass production} was also being created round about this time period. in Egypt. On further inspection however, we find

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>