Origins of Glass

Ms. Prinkey

The discovery of glass 5000 BC

Natural glass has existed since the beginnings of time, formed when certain types of rocks melt as a result of high-temperature phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, lightning strikes or the impact of meteorites, and then cool and solidify rapidly.

A craft is born 16th century BC

The oldest fragments of glass vases date back to the 16th century.

Hollow glass production was also evolving around this time.

Early hollow glass production 1500 BC

After 1500 BC, Egyptian craftsmen are known to have begun developing a method for producing glass pots by dipping a core mould of compacted sand into molten glass and then turning the mould so that molten glass adhered to it.

Glass Blowing 27 BC-AD 14

A major breakthrough in glassmaking was the discovery of glassblowing some time between 27 BC and AD 14, attributed to Syrian craftsmen from the Sidon-Babylon area.

The long thin metal tube used in the blowing process has changed very little since then. In the last century BC, the ancient Romans then began blowing glass inside moulds, greatly increasing the variety of shapes possible for hollow glass items.

Glass blowing and shaping

The Roman connection AD 100

The Romans also did much to spread glassmaking technology.

With its conquests, trade relations, road building, and effective political and economical administration, the Roman Empire created the conditions for the flourishing of glassworks across western Europe and the Mediterranean.

The Roman connection AD 100

Romans were the first to use glass for architectural purposes.

Because they were building roads, trading goods, and had an effective political administration, they helped spread the use of glass making and techniques.

Skipping to Modern Day Tiffany Glass

Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios, by Louis Comfort Tiffany

Tiffany Glass

In 1865, Tiffany traveled to Europe and in London he visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, whose extensive collection of Roman and Syrian glass made a deep impression on him. He admired the coloration of medieval glass and was convinced that the quality of contemporary glass could be improved upon

Tiffany Glass

Tiffany was an interior designer, and in 1878 his interest turned towards the creation of stained glass.

Opened his own studio and glass foundry because he was unable to find the types of glass that he desired in interior decoration

Tiffany Glass

His inventiveness both as a designer of windows and as a producer of the material with which to create them was to become renowned

Tiffany Glass - Types

Streamer glass refers to a sheet of glass with a pattern of glass strings affixed to its surface

Tiffany Glass - Types

Fracture glass refers to a sheet of glass with a pattern of irregularly shaped, thin glass wafers affixed to its surface

Tiffany Glass - Types

Ripple glass refers to a sheet of textured glass with marked surface waves. Tiffany made use of such textured glass to represent, for example, water or leaf veins.

Tiffany Glass - Types

Ring mottle glass refers to sheet glass with a pronounced mottle created by localized, heat-treated opacification and crystal-growth dynamics.

Tiffany Glass - Types

Drapery glass refers to a sheet of

heavily folded glass that suggests fabric folds. Tiffany made abundant use of drapery glass in ecclesiastical stained glass windows to add a 3-dimensional effect to flowing robes and angel wings, and to imitate the natural coarseness of magnolia petals.

Dale Chihuly, Tacoma, WA