Beautiful Transparency: Glass part 1

The light-transparent quality of glass

It is light which gives glass its shimmer and sparkle, so, I love to place it where it can be seen to its best advantage.  Add colour to glass. and it can take on jewel-like qualities. 
In the early years of  glass making, cobalt blue was the pigment used to achieve the colour I so much love.  However, cobalt ores contain arsenic and the processes of crushing and smelting the ore produced a highly toxic compound.  So, the beautiful old examples of blue glass have claimed a heavy toll on the health and lives of those producing the blue pigment.

Blue marbles

 

 

 

 

 

Glass ballons

Painted balls

Soda, silica and lime are the basic ingredients in making glass.

It is not known, for sure, when or where glass was first made but it is believed to have originated in Syria.  From there the knowledge  spread  to Egypt, where the oldest known glass artifact is believed to be 7000 years old.

Here, in Norway, It was King Christian 1V who initiated the terms for glass production and  in the 18th century 7 glass works were established.

Hurdal glass 1790 - 1820

Nøstetangen glass

 In 1773, The Royal Blaafarvevaerk was founded to process the cobalt ore extracted in nearby mines.

One of the old cobalt mines

The cobalt blue pigment used in glass and porcelain production was made here  and by the 19th century 80% of the world's demand was supplied from the Blaafargevaerk.

Blaafarvevaerk

Blue Glass was also made in the Norwegian glass works.

Gjøvik glass 1807-1843

Glass made in the 18th and 19th century is now sought-after by collectors.

However, modern designs recapture earlier shapes.

DECANTERS 

I love the shapes and  designs of decanters.  I like them first and foremost as beautiful objects but, of course, they can also be put to good use. However, older glass may become grey and slightly cloudy and decanters are notoriously difficult to clean.  So, I prefer not to keep the port and sherry in these.

 

In the Hurdal- style

Early 20th century

Late 19th century

Old and new decanters

I have been visiting our local studio glass-blowing workshop.  So, I'll show you those pictures in a later post.

Anna