Report on the manufacture of glass by United States. Census Office. 10th census 1880 & Weeks Joseph D. (Joseph Dame) 1840-1896

Author:United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880 & Weeks, Joseph D. (Joseph Dame), 1840-1896
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Glass manufacture, Glass manufacture -- United States
Publisher: Washington, Govt. print. off.
Published: 1884-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

traditions were wholly lost. The glass that belongs probably to the later period shows but little of the elegance of form and the skill in manipulation of the early Byzantine and later Roman, and the weakness of the later days of the empire of the East had impressed itself upon its art, and with its fall its artisans were scattered, many seeking the shores of the Upper Adriatic to renew their art and restore some of its lost glory in the rising city of the refugees, Venice.

EARLY GLASS-MAKING IN OTHER COUNTRIES. —The details of the manufacture of glass in other countries prior to the Middle Ages are imperfectly known. Pliny states that the glass works of Gaul and Spain were established before those of Eome, and it may be possible that this is true, as in the days of the later republic and early empire Rome was too intent on extending its conquests to give that attention to the arts, other than those connected with war, which it afterward bestowed upon them. Wherever the Romans extended their conquests, however, in the western part of Europe, glass is found to a considerable extent in the ruins of their occupation.

GLASS IN FRANCE. —M. Fillou considers that the manufacture of glass in France began at Poitiers (a) in the second century, (b) These factories were active in the Roman and Prankish periods, survived the Norman invasion, and were left a legacy to the gentleman workers of the Middle Ages. In many tombs of the Gallo-Roman period in the neighborhood of Poitiers large quantities of vases of varied form, and sometimes of delicate and careful workmanship, are found; but the amount found in these and other tombs of France can only be described as immense. Abbe" Cochet states that 20,000 vases were found buried in the cemeteries at Terre-Nigre, Bordeaux, and in many of the tombs glass vials, children's glass toys, beads, twisted sticks, and tiny glass vases, some not exceeding half an inch high, were very common, all indicating the extensive scale upon which the industry was operated. In the Boulogne museum are preserved some curious barrel shaped jars of a low-grade glass quite green in color, bearing the mark of the imperial factory at Frontincennes, at Foret Eu, which is supposed to have been started in the second century, and was the school shop of all the Norman factories of later times. It is still a great factory, and must surely be about the oldest in the world.

It is impossible to give a suggestion even of the styles and character of early glass found in France. As Christianity advanced and spread over Gaul the character of the glass changed, and in this way its history can be, in a measure, traced. Its use for church purposes also became established, a pope in the year 197 having ordered that wine should not be consecrated, as heretofore, in a wooden, but in a glass vessel. Glass chalices were used in the fifth century, but

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.