Art of Glass

Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. Indian glass. 2. Primitive glass of the Egyptians and Syrians. 3. Later Greek glass and the moulded and cast glass of the Roman empire. 4. The Blown glass of the Roman empire. 5. Early Christian glass, Byzantine glass, and the glass of the middle ages in the east and the west. 6. Glass from Anglo-Saxon and Frankish Tombs the so-called Hedwig glasses. 7. Mediaeval treatises on glass. 8. Glass of the later middle ages in Western Europe. 9. The enamelled glass of the Saracens. 10. The enamelled glass of the Saracens (continued). 11. The glass of Venice-the origins-beads. 12. The enamelled Venetian glass of the fifteenth century. 13. Varieties of Venetian glass-early literature. 14. The French glass of the renaissance. 15. The renaissance glass of the Spanish Netherlands and of Spain. 16. The glass of Germany. 17. The glass of Germany (continued). 18. Dutch glass of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 19. English glass of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 20. English glass of the eighteenth century. 21. The seventeenth and eighteenth century glass of Persia, India and China. 22. Contemporary glass. Bibliography. Index.

"Glass is an important substance and is manufactured from various ingredients. In India it is known from the hoary past. However, earlier only objects in crude form could be produced. In course of time, the artisans tried various processes to improve the products. They succeeded in preparing from it beautiful things of various types which were highly attractive. Antiquity of glass in India is very strongly supported in view of several references to it in Indian literature. At the time when the Yajurveda was composed, female ornaments were made of glass. Satapatha Brahmana, a work generally attributed to a period before 800 B.C., contains references to glass beads. The manufacturing of glass in India has continued through the ages. In course of time the artisans have attained great skill in producing the glass objects of various hues, sizes and shapes." (jacket)