Five thousand years of glass

Abstract

The fragile beauty of glass has ensured its popularity through the ages in forms ranging from simple beakers to ornate decorative masterpieces. This book traces the history of glass from its origins in western Asia some 5,000 years ago, though the invention of glass blowing around the first century B.C., to the introduction of mechanized processes and new styles in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It highlights the flourishing industries of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, the elegant vessels of the Islamic Near East, the superb mastery of Renaissance Venice, and the wide-ranging experiments of modern Europe and America. A unique feature of the book is the series of photographic sequences especially taken in the studio of a modern glassmaker as he reconstructs ancient techniques; these are accompanied by a glossary of glassmaking terms.

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