Old Glass and How to Collect it

tain coloured beads, known as "aggry" beads. Many of these exist, some probably of Ph?nician origin, others dating from

s the custom for the conqueror to train the conquered in his own arts, and the Roman handicrafts followed the Roman Eagle. In any case, the art of glass-making had,

vitreous paste-which in places approaches translucency. Unfortunately, the materials employed were impure, and the material has consequently disintegrated with time, making it a matter of exceeding difficulty to determine its orig

lisation imposed by the Romans, reviving again when the various Anglo-Saxon units began to deve

ance to glaze the windows of the church at Wearmouth, and that{29} they

t-shaped cups, ribbed, or stringed, or fluted. These have no base on which to stand, and are probably of English manufacture, dating from the latter half of the sixth century, (c) The third type is the "palm" cup, shaped so as to be conveniently held in the palm of the hand, having no bottom on which to stand; and (d) bowls of various shapes. The palm cup

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els are found both in France and Germany, it is claimed that a greater number and a great

eenth century. Glass vessels were, of course, known and used, but these were probably, in the main at any rate, imported from Venice and the East. On the other hand, it is known that before the thirteenth century window glass

lliam le Verir in 1301, and John Glasewryth in 1380. The record, in its transition from Latin to{32} Norman-French, and then to Ang

presented the daily wage of a skilled artisan in the thirteenth century. In the Taxation Roll of Colchester in 1295, three of the principal burgesses are referred to as "verrers," and it seems hardly likely that so many important citizens were merely glaziers and not glass-makers. However, it is more than probable that the use of glass was confined to the noble and wealthy, while the common folk used vessels made of wood, horn, or leather.{33} The "Leather Bottel" has passed into a proverb, and the Black Jack was so universal in its use that the F

stinguishing between the vigour of the thirteenth and the brilliancy of the fourteenth century. It would appear, too, that the home product won an increasing appreciation from the architects who employed it in their buildings; for whereas in

e. Most of these came from Venice, and, spurred by the desire of establishing so lucrative an industry at home, the r

were induced to settle in England in 1549, and built their furnace in the monastery of the Crutched Friars-one of the minor orders. They derived their name Crutched (i.e. Crossed) from the ornamental cross which adorned their habits. Of{35} the eight, seven returned to Venice in 1551, having pre

ilosophy," publishe

kers they be sc

e is as I do

x is now his

d he works by

duct of the Chiddingfold furnaces was probably, however, a coarse g

furnace in Somerset House. He failed,{36} however, with the materials then available, to produce any very effective results; in particular, the clay used for the pots failed to withstand the great heat required to produce

openly confessed their inability to compete with the French craftsmen did not prevent their stirring up a strong opposition against them, which found vent in popular tumult and, in at least one instance, in a conspiracy to murder the workers, pillage their stores and destroy their furnaces. There seems little doubt, however, that their{37} presence must have influenced the quality of English glass and given an impetus to its manufacture. S

f the Crutched Friars, where the eight Venetians had built their furnace in 1549, and there made "glass of divers sorts to drink in." There is little doubt as to his success, although, with one possible exception, no tangible evidence of it remains. But{38} if one may judge by the very considerable outcry that arose at this period against

houses; and in 1589, the year after the Armada, it was proposed to reduce the number of glass-houses from fifteen to four, transferring the rest to Ireland, where the loss of trees did not matter so much, the timber not being urgently needed, as in England, for the purpose of shipbuilding. One curious fact is that for a long time-from{39} the twelfth century at least in unbroken record-English w

othing these mettals (because of the plentie) do now generalie choose rather the Venice glasses both for our

t too deere for them they content themselves with such as are made at home of fe

ore a similar patent had been granted to Jacob Verzelini and that it had been altogether neglected, and very few Englishmen had been brought up in the art. Mansel, in his reply, state

the accession of Queen Elizabeth to that of King Charles I. there exist to-day very few indisputable examples of the English glass-blower's art of this period; and yet it is hardly possible to believe that they were not produced in considerable quantity. For, in spite of specimens bearing the Tudor

s drinking cup or goblet stands about 5? in. in height and bears the initials G. S.-probably those of the person for whom it wa

cence was granted for "the invention of coal-heated glass-houses," and in the following year Sir Edward Zouche expended{42} no less a sum than ￡5000 in erecting glass-houses in Lambeth and perfecting the production of glass with sea-coal. This change is a momentous one in the history of glass-making, inasmuch as it became necessary to cover the pots, and this brought

ringing up in those districts where it was easy to obtain fuel as on the coal-fields, where the sand was of excepti

nection with the history of the glass industry

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Y ELIZABETHAN G

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ENGLISH GLASS T

tinge, evidently portions of broken vessels of various kinds-drinking glasses, jugs, bottles, and so forth. These were in such quantity that it was evident c

ted they moved to fresh fields and forests new-much to the annoyance of the populace, who depended upon those wood

being in future compelled to burn sea-coal or charcoal or other fuel. The same ordinance p

It is a matter for regret that no product of his furnaces is known to exist to-day, a fact the more surprising in that his licence was renewed at various times, and so covers a considerable stretch of the most interesting period of the art. At any rate we find him petitioning in 16

n of being one of the liveliest and most pleasing writers of the period. In{45} the famous Howell's letters, "Epistol? Ho-Elian?," which were published between 1645 and 1655, we have

t from the wood. But Fame which credits him with this discovery would seem to have forgotten that in Elizabeth's time ale was sold in glass bottles, and a qua

re came a great{46} change. The then Duke of Buckingham, who appears, like others of his name, to have had a keen eye to the main chance, started a glass furnace at Greenwich. In 1663 he petitioned the King that he might be granted a licence to make mirrors, he having been at grea

d as the inventor of crystal glass. It appears clear that Tilson had produced a material of greater merit than any of his predecessors or contemporaries. It is probable that this material was lead glass-flint glass as i

tify to the skill of the craftsmen-Venetian and English-of this period. Some of the window glass is of the same date and may be readily distinguished by its mauve tinge-a possible result of the action of light o

, petitioned to prohibit. Fortunately both for the future of the art of glass-making in England and for the cheapn

ssels to his own specification and design. Fortunately some specimens of these are still in existence, but it need hardly be said that examples of the seventeenth century, both home manufactured and imported, are

older to the eye, whiter and softer than the English, which is more brilliant and of a peculiar steely lustre, while it is far weightier-a fact probably due to the use of a considera

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EARLY GLASS

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TURY PANEL GLASS, WITH

ime of Charles II. and is a genuine example of English art. It was probably, as to design, copied from a Venetian model, but the texture of the glass and the weight of the piece are strong evidences of its English origin. With the accession of William, the craft was further stimulated by the importation of many mod

s period. Its admirable shape and style and its exquisite workmanship will readily{50} appe

se. Fig. 6 is a photograph showing the coin. Such a piece has almost the value of a dated specimen, for though it was, of course, possible to insert a coin of any previous date, the reason for doing so is by no means obvious. It is hardly likely, for example, that an

ass-working at this period. The portrait is that of Old Rowley (Charles II.) himself, and

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G.

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OIN BLOWN IN THE STEM OF THE TAN

house in Purfleet and is no

founded in their new home the industries which had become famous in the country of their birth. Among them came glass-workers from Paris, Lorraine, and other parts of France, who were deservedly famous for their skill in their craft. Coming as they did at a time when the discovery of the brilliant so-called flint

in the history of English glass, and the period which followed{52

erned, and as the great bulk of eighteenth-century glass consisted of

or our purpose it will be sufficient, however, to make a broad and simple division of drinking glasses into wine glasses, ale and beer glasses, and cordial or spirit glasses. It is the custom, too, to draw a distinction bet

into various classes according to the diversity of sha

ides curved inward to form a waist, bell-shaped, and ogee or double-ogee shaped-the last na

ormer are parts of the same lump of molten glass of which the bowl i

rib-twisted, faceted, air-twisted, air-drawn, or opaque-twis

of the foot. Apart from this, the only variations are those bearing on the flatness of the foot and its diameter. In old glasses the feet were never quite flat. There is always a percepti

and then more and more natural, with at first a butterfly, which gradually dwindled to a moth, and then finally disappeared. Other designs are based upon the nature of the liquids drunk, or refer to politics, domestic or business affairs, or to some famous personage. The largest group of designs is associated with Jacobitism-"Charlie-over-the-water-ism