The History of Glass–Blowing In the UK
Glass-making has its origins more than 5000 years ago. Historical records show that the ancient Egyptians were master glass-makers and made clever use of metals and metallic oxides to make coloured glass. Although the exact moment of its discovery still shrouded in a cloud of mystery and myths, it is nevertheless universally acknowledged that glass-blowing was discovered by the Romans during the first century BC. Glass-blowing comes to EnglandDuring the Middle Ages, expertise in glass-making contributed greatly to the meteoric rise in wealth and prestige of Venice, where all glass-making and glass-blowing activity began to be concentrated. Soon, fearing for the safety of their beloved city due to the increasing use of fire in glass-making, the Grand Council of Venice decided to shift all glassmaking activity to the island of Murano. Another more significant reason was to guard their trade secrets from the French and the English.Glass-blowing continued and flourished on the island of Murano, with the glass artisans under threat of death if they leaked out the secrets of glass-blowing. Nevertheless, in the late 13th century, many Murano artisans did manage to flee the island. It was these glass-blowers who first introduced the fine art of glass-blowing to England.English glass blowers invent black glass!By the 17th century, England had started producing high quality blown glass objects. In the mid-17th century, English glassblowers invented what came to be known as ‘black glass’, although its actual colour was really a dark green. This glass was especially suitable for making objects that needed to be thick-walled for longer storage and easy shipping. Their thickness and dark colour also prevented light from entering and spoiling the contents. As a result, England soon became the leading distributor of bottles in the world. Englishman achieves breakthroughThe 17th century saw another major breakthrough in the glass industry. An English glass-maker by the name of George Ravenscroft, who had lived in Venice for many years and had learnt many of the jealously-guarded secrets of the Murano artisans, secretly developed a unique formula for making glass – he began to use lead.This latest discovery once again added a new dimension to the art of glass-making. The addition of lead meant that the glass became more workable, lending itself to greater forms and shapes. Since weight and clarity had doubled as well, the attention shifted to the utility aspect of glass rather than the hitherto decorative one. Soon, London began to attract glass artisans from other parts of Europe. It was the German and Bohemian glasscutters who introduced the techniques of glass cutting to the English. As a result, a new fixture appeared in the market — candelabrum with cut glass.Bristol becomes the leader in glass blowing in Europe During the reign of James I in Britain, the use of wood as a fuel for trades was expressly forbidden by law since England was facing a widespread shortage of wood. An alternative fuel source had to be found, and it was quickly identified – coal. As a result, the glass artisans scouted around for a more suitable location where the supply of coal would be easily accessible. Luckily for them, Bristol had been active in coal mining since the Tudor times. Other areas identified were the Midlands (till today, Stoke on Trent is famous for its potteries while Stourbridge is renowned for its glass), the North East (the National Glass Centre is in Sunderland) and London, home to some of the most respected names in glass-making, such as the Whitefriars.Not surprisingly, Bristol soon achieved the distinction of becoming one of the most important glass-making centres in Europe. By the late 18th century, Bristol boasted of no less than twenty glass-making firms.Bristol Blue Glass is bornThe late 18th century saw a revolution sweeping across the glass industry in Bristol. Although the Orient had been using porcelain for centuries, in England it was Richard Champion, a Bristol merchant who finally managed to make porcelain. Working with a chemist, William Cookworthy, Champion was on the look-out for some top quality cobalt oxide which would impart that beautiful blue glaze decoration on the milky-white porcelain surface. He obtained exclusive import rights to all the cobalt oxide from the Royal Saxon Cobalt Works in Saxony. This new ‘blue glass became wildly popular and perhaps it was this that led to the birth of the Bristol Blue Glass.Lazurus and Isaac Jacobs were the most famous glass artisans of Bristol Blue Glass in the 1780s. Their firm had a royal warrant and was making glass for the European aristocracy. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, the now-famous Ruby Glass was made for the very first time. Bristol Blue Glass artisans used 24 carat gold to give the glass its ruby red colour.However, glassmaking in the city began to face a slump due to the economic meltdown and, by 1922, glassmaking had all but stopped. The 20th century saw very little glass-making activity in Bristol. It was only in 1998 that James Adlington revived Bristol Blue Glass. Today, the firm continues to follow the same tradition of making glass as its master craftsmen did more than 300 years ago. Bristol Blue Glass is entirely handmade. Surprisingly, the essential tools of glass-making have remained more or less unchanged for around 2000 years. While specialist blacksmiths hammered out the metal tools, the wooden tools were painstakingly carved by the glass artisans themselves. There are lots of brand sunglasses, such as Prada sunglasses, Cartier sunglasses, ,etc
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