A Short History of Glass

Fülszöveg

People have been making glass for at least thirty-five centuries. About 1500 years before the birth of Jesus, back when iron was first used, back when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, glass was new. That was a very long time ago —in fact one hundred and seventy-five successive generations have gone by. Since those ancient days, uncounted thousands of people have worked with glass, people in almost every part of the world, people with traditions, needs, and ideas as varied as history itself. To discover and bring all this human activity together is the job of The Corning Museum of Glass: we do it by collecting and analyzing evidence. The best source is the glass object itself because each piece is like a time capsule reflecting the ideas of its maker, of the techniques, practices, and styles alive at the very moment in which it was made. So far we have acquired by gift and purchase more than 19,000 glass objects. Archeology gives us more evidence, recording as it does the lives... Tovább

Fülszöveg

People have been making glass for at least thirty-five centuries. About 1500 years before the birth of Jesus, back when iron was first used, back when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, glass was new. That was a very long time ago —in fact one hundred and seventy-five successive generations have gone by. Since those ancient days, uncounted thousands of people have worked with glass, people in almost every part of the world, people with traditions, needs, and ideas as varied as history itself. To discover and bring all this human activity together is the job of The Corning Museum of Glass: we do it by collecting and analyzing evidence. The best source is the glass object itself because each piece is like a time capsule reflecting the ideas of its maker, of the techniques, practices, and styles alive at the very moment in which it was made. So far we have acquired by gift and purchase more than 19,000 glass objects. Archeology gives us more evidence, recording as it does the lives of people, of communities, of civilizations in which glass has played a part. But the source that multiplies the fastest is the printed word. The Museum's Library now contains more than 25,000 publications; by the year 2000 it expects to house 51,000, more than double everything ever printed on the subject before! This concise history is a summary, largely visual, of what we now know of all the centuries of experience, of the endless technical discoveries, of the limitless artistic inventions of generation after generation. Wherever possible, words written during the time when the glass was made are quoted. These, like the pieces themselves, are direct evidence; they give a lively idea of just what various people thought about glass throughout history. As a review of the most important glass in the collection, this book is also a simplified summary of the Museum's first three decades. After thirty years of looking, collecting, exhibiting, publishing, and looking again, we know that glass has magic about it, that it seems to fascinate both makers and owners regardless of where or when they live. Perhaps it is because glass is molten and moving and untouchable in the very moment of its formation that the craftsman must respond with great speed and certainty. Perhaps it is its split nature — opaque or transparent, colored or clear, fragile or strong. Perhaps it is its seemingly endless potential. With glass now in the hands of artists as well as craftsmen, with wires of glass threads transmitting light impulses across the land, with eyeglasses that lighten and darken with the sun, we may be seeing — within all the wonders of this long history—just the beginning. Vissza