GLASS

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GLASS,

hard substance, usually brittle and transparent, composed chiefly of silicates and an alkali fused at high
temperature.

COMPOSITION AND PROP ERTIES OF GLASS

Most glass is a mixture of silica obtained from beds of fine sand or from pulverized sandstone;
an alkali to lower the melting point, usually a form of soda or, for finer glass, potash; lime as a
stabilizer; and cullet (waste glass) to assist in melting the mixture. The properties of glass are
varied by adding other substances, commonly in the form of oxides, e.g., lead, for brilliance
and weight; boron, for thermal and electrical resistance; barium, to increase the refractive
index, as in optical glass; cerium, to absorb infrared rays; alumina, for strength and durability,
as in cellphone glass, and thermal resistance; metallic oxides, to impart color; and manganese,
for decolorizing. The term "crystal glass," derived from rock crystal, was at first applied to
clear, highly refractive glass; it has come to denote in the trade a high-grade, colorless glass
and is sometimes applied to any fine hand-blown glass.

THE PROCESS OF GLASS MAKING

The processes of glassmaking have remained essentially the same since ancient times. The
materials are fused at high temperatures in seasoned fireclay containers, boiled down,
skimmed, and cooled several hundred degrees; then the molten glass (called metal) is ladled or
poured into molds and pressed, or is blown (sometimes into molds), or is drawn. The shaped
glass is annealed to relieve stresses caused by manipulation, then is slowly cooled. The glass,
formerly annealed on shelves in a melting furnace, is now usually carried on rollers through
annealing ovens (lehrs).

Although today most hollow vessels such as light bulbs or containers are machine blown, fine
ornamental hollow ware is still made by gathering a mass of glass at the end of a long, iron
blowpipe, blowing it into a pear-shaped bulb, which is rolled on an oiled slab (marver), shaped
with tools, and then reblown, often into a mold; the glass is reheated periodically in a small
furnace (glory hole). It is finally transferred to an iron rod (punty) attached to the base of the
vessel, and the lip is shaped and smoothed. Methods of decoration include cutting, copper-
wheel engraving, etching with hydrofluoric acid, enameling, gilding, and painting.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE G LASS INDUSTRY

Humans have used glass since prehistoric times, at first fashioning small objects from natural
glass such as obsidian, a volcanic glass, or from rock crystal, a colorless, transparent quartz
whose brilliance and clarity are emulated in manufactured glass.

ANCIENT GLASSMAKING

The place and date of origin of manufactured glass are not known. The oldest known
specimens of glass are from Egypt (c.2000 B.C.), where the industry was well established
c.1500 B.C. Many varieties of glass were known during Roman times, including cameo glass,
such as the Portland vase

, and millefiore glass, produced from fused and molded bundles of thin glass rods of many
colors. Glass was also used for window panes, mirrors, prisms, and magnifying glasses. Except
for the work done in Constantinople, little is now known of the methods of glassmaking used
in Europe from the fall of Rome until the 10th cent., when stained glass

came into use.

EARLY EUROPEAN GLASSMAKING

Venice was the leader in making fine glassware for almost four centuries after the Crusades
and attempted to monopolize the industry by strict control at Murano of glassworkers, who
were severely penalized for betraying the secrets of the art. After the invention (c.1688) of a
process for casting glass, France was for many years supreme in the manufacture of plate glass
such as that used to line the Galerie des Glaces at Versailles. Late in the 17th cent. England
began to make flint glass, whose lead oxide content imparted a brilliance and softness that
made it suitable for cut glass.

GLASSMAKING IN COLONIAL AMERICA

The first glass factory in America was built in 1608, and glass was carried in the first cargo
exported to England. Although other glasshouses were operated in the colonies, especially in
New Amsterdam, the first successful and enduring large-scale glasshouse was set up by the
German-born manufacturer Caspar Wistar in New Jersey in 1739. Some of the finest colonial
glassware was produced in the Pennsylvania glasshouses of the German-born manufacturer H.
W. Stiegel.

BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN ERA

The invention of a glass-pressing machine (c.1827), used by the American manufacturer

Deming Jarves in his Boston and Sandwich Glass Company (182588), permitted the
manufacturing of inexpensive and mass-produced glass articles. Nevertheless, in the 19th and
20th cent., there has remained a sense of pride in individual craftsmanship. The American artist
Louis C. Tiffany was responsible for the design and manufacture of an extraordinary iridescent
glass used in a variety of objects in the late 1800s. Exceptionally fine blown glassware has
been designed by such artists as Ren Lalique and Maurice Marinot in France, Edvard Hald
and Simon Gate in Sweden, as well as Sidney Waugh in the United States.

CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS OF GLASS

Glass has become invaluable in modern architecture, illumination, electrical transmission,

instruments for scientific research, optical instruments, household utensils, and even fabrics.
New forms of glass, new applications, and new methods of production have revolutionized the
industry. Recently developed forms of glass include safety glass, which is usually constructed
of two pieces of plate glass bonded together with a plastic that prevents the glass from
scattering when broken; fiberglass, which is made from molten glass formed into continuous
filaments and used for fabrics or for electrical insulation; and foam glass, which is made by
trapping gas bubbles in glass to yield a spongy material for insulating purposes. Certain uses of
glass are now being superseded by newly developed plastics.
See also window

BIBLIOGRAPHY

See G. O. Jones, Glass (2d ed. 1971); L. D. Pyle et al., Introduction to Glass Science (1972);
R. H. Doremus, Glass Science (1973); I. Fanderlik, Optical Properties of Glass (1983); P.
Bansal, Handbook of Glass Properties (1986).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia
University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/

GLASS

A hard, brittle, usually transparent or translucent substance, produced by melting a mixture of silica oxides; while
molten, it may be easily blown, drawn, rolled, pressed, or cast to a variety of shapes. It can be transparent,
translucent, or mirrored; and made nonglare, pigmented, or tinted. It can be shaped by casting, rolling, pressing, or
baking. It can also be bonded to metal for use as an exterior cladding.

ART GLASS
A type of decorative leaded glass window in which scenes or patterns are produced by using colored rather than
stained glass; it is common in works of the Art Nouveau style. Also works of blown glass.

COLORED GLASS
Originated over 2000 years ago when pieces of colored glass were embedded in heavy matrices of stone or
plaster.
CORRUGATED GLASS
A glass sheet manufactured by pressing molten glass in a mold, with a cross section in the form of a wave.

CROWN GLASS
The glass made by blowing a mass of molten material, which is then flattened into a disk and spun into a cular
sheet.

DECORATIVE GLASS
Embossing and sandblasting techniques create a subtle form of ornamentation. Etching and beveling are also used
to create ornamentation in glass.

DOUBLE GLAZING
Insulating glass that is composed of an inner and outer pane, with a sealed air space between them.

FLOAT GLASS
Sheets of glass made by floating molten glass on a surface of molten metal, which produces a polished surface.

FLUTED GLASS
Glass whose solar transmittance is reduced by adding varius coloring agents to the molten glass; the most common
colors are bronze, grey and green.

HEAT-ABSORBING GLASS
A glass whose solar transmittance is reduced by adding various coloring agents to the molten glass; the most
common colors are bronze, gray, and green.

INSULATING GLASS
The glass that has insulating qualities, made by sandwiching two layers of glass separated by a vacuumsealed
edge.

LAMINATED GLASS
Two or more plies of flat glass bonded under heat and pressure to inner layers of plastic to form a shatter-resisting
assembly that retains the fragments if the glass is broken; it is called safety glass.

LEADED GLASS
Dates from the Middle Ages, where glass was set into malleable lead frames.

LOW-EMISSIVITY GLASS
A glass that transmits visible light while selectively reflecting the longer wavelengths of radiant heat; made by a
coating either the glass itself or the transparent plastic film in the sealed air space of insulating glass.

LUSTER GLASS
An iridescent glass, of the type made by Tiffany.

OBSCURE GLASS
A glass that has one or both faces acid-etched or sandblasted to obscure vision.

OPAL GLASS
The glass that contains calcium phosphate, which is derived from bone ash, and which renders the glass white and
opaque.

OPALESCENT GLASS
A type of iridescent glass showing many colors; first used by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the late nineteenth century,
and now called Tiffany glass.
PAINTED GLASS
A type of stained glass formed by painting a plain piece of glass with enamel, then baking or firing it in a kiln at a
high temperature.

PATTERNED GLASS
A glass that has an irregular surface pattern formed in the rolling process to obscure vision or to diffuse light;
usually on one side only, the other side is left smooth.

PLATE GLASS
A high-quality float glass sheet, formed by rolling molten glass into a plate that is subsequently ground and
polished on both sides after cooling.

PRISMATIC GLASS
Rolled glass that has parallel prisms on one face. These refract the transmitted light and thus change its direction.

REFLECTIVE GLASS
Window glass having a thin, translucent metallic coating bonded to the exterior or interior surface to reflect a
portion of the light and radiant heat and light that strikes it.

ROLLED GLASS
Molten glass from a furnace is passed through rollers to produce a pattern on one or both surfaces of the glass.
SAFETY GLASS
A glass containing thin wire mesh reinforcement; glass laminated with transparent plastic; glass toughened by heat
treatment, causing it to break into small fragments without splintering.

SHEET GLASS
A float glass fabricated by drawing the molten glass from a furnace; the surfaces are not perfectly parallel,
resulting in some distortion of vision. Used for ordinary window glass.

SOUND-INSULATING GLASS
A glass consisting of two lights in resilient mountings, separated by spacers, and sealed so as to leave an air space
between them; the air space contains a desiccant to assure dehydration of the trapped air.

SPANDREL GLASS
An opaque glass used in curtain walls to conceal spandrel beams, columns, or other internal structural construction.

STAINED GLASS
A glass given a desired color in its molten state or by firing a stain into the surface of the glass after forming; used
for decorative windows or transparent mosaics.

STRUCTURAL GLASS
A glass which is cast in the form of cubes, rectangular blocks, tile, or large rectangular plates; used widely for the
surfacing of walls.

TEMPERED GLASS
Annealed glass reheated to just below the softening point and then rapidly cooled with water. When fractured, it
breaks into relatively harmless pieces.

TINTED GLASS
A glass that has a chemical admixture to absorb a portion of the radiant heat and visible light that strikes it to filter
out infrared solar energy, thereby reducing the solar heat gain.
VISION-PROOF GLASS
A glass that has been given a pattern during its manufacture, so that it is not transparent.

WIRE GLASS
Flat or patterned glass having a square or a diamond wire mesh embedded within the two faces to prevent
shattering in the event of breakage or excessive heat. Wire glass is considered a safety glazing material.

Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights
reserved

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

GLASS

a solid amorphous material obtained by supercooling a melt. Glass is characterized by

reversibility of the transition from a liquid state to a metastable, glassy state. Under certain
temperature conditions, glass will crystallize. Unlike crystalline solids, it does not fuse but
rather softens, gradually changing from a solid to a plastic material and then to a liquid. With
respect to state of aggregation, glass occupies an intermediate position between liquid and
crystalline substances. Its elastic properties suggest a similarity to crystalline solids, but the
absence of crystallographic symmetry (and associated isotropy) invites comparison with
liquids. The tendency to form glass is characteristic of many substances, including selenium,
sulfur, silicates, and borates.

The term glass is also applied to certain glass items, such as window glass, container glass,
and laboratory glass. Glass products may be transparent or opaque and colorless or colored;
they may luminesce when exposed to, for example, ultraviolet or ?y-radiation; and they may
either transmit or absorb ultraviolet rays. Inorganic glass, which is characterized by good
mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, is most common. Most inorganic glass is used in
construction, in particular, sheet glass, and the manufacture of containers. This type of glass is
based on silicon dioxide (soda-lime-silica glass); other oxide types of glass, whose composition
includes oxides of phosphorus, aluminum, boron, and other elements, also find application. The
oxygen-free types of inorganic glass include glass based on the chalcogen-ides of such
elements as arsenic (As2S3) and antimony (Sb2Se3) and on the halides of beryllium (BeF2) and
other elements.

According to function, distinctions are made between structural glass (window glass, patterned
glass, glass bricks), container glass, the glass used in technology (quartz glass, glass used in
illuminating engineering, glass fiber), and the glass used in household glassware. Other types
include radiation-absorbing glass, radiation-sensitive glass, photochromic glass, the glass used
as a laser material, uviol glass, foam glass, and soluble glass. Soluble glass, which contains
approximately 75 percent SiO2, 24 percent Na2O, and other components, forms a sticky liquid
(liquid glass) with water. It is used as a thickening agent in the production of silicate paint and
office glue and as a disperser and detergent. Soluble glass is also used to impregnate fabric and
paper. The chemical composition of certain types of glass is given in Table 1.

Physicochemical properties. The properties of a particular type of glass depend on the

components. The most characteristic property of glass is transparency; the percentage of light
transmission of window glass is 8390 percent, and of optical glass, up to 99.95 percent. Glass
is typically brittle, being extremely sensitive to mechanical effects, especially shocks; however,
its compressive strength is the same as that of cast iron.

To increase strength, glass is subjected to such hardening processes as tempering; ion

exchange, in which sodium ions, for example, are replaced by lithium or potassium ions on the
surface of the glass; chemical treatment; and thermochemical treatment. These processes
weaken the action of surface microcracks (Griffith cracks) that arise on the surface of glass as a
result of such environmental effects as temperature and moisture and that serve to concentrate
stress. Hardening processes can increase the strength of glass by a factor of 450. Etching or
compressing the surface layer is usually used to eliminate the influence of micro-cracks. With
etching, the defective layer is dissolved by hydrofluoric acid and a protective film of, for
example, polymers is applied to the exposed flawless layer. With tempering, the opening up of
cracks is impeded by the compression of the surface layer.

Table 1. Composition of certain types of glass and glass products produced industrially

Type Chemical composition (in percent)

Sio2 B2O3 Al2O3 MgO CaO BaO PbO Na2O K2O Fe2O3 SO3

Windowglass ............... 71.8 2 4.1 6.7 14.8 0.1 0.5

Container glass ............... 71.5 3.3 3.2 5.2 16 0.6 0.2

Household glassware 74 0.5 7.45 16 2 0.05

Crystal ............... 56.5 0.48 1 27 6 10 0.02

Laboratory glassware ............... 68.4 2.7 3.9 8.5 9.4 7.1

Optical glass ............... 41.4 53.2 5.4

Vycorglass 96 3.5 0.5

Electric bulbs ............... 71.9 3.5 5.5 2 16.1 1

Vacuumtubes ............... 66.9 20.3 3.5 3.9 5.4

Medicalglass 73 4 4.5 1 7 8.5 2

 Table 1. Composition of certain types of glass and glass products produced industrially

Type Chemical composition (in percent)

Sio2 B2O3 Al2O3 MgO CaO BaO PbO Na2O K2O Fe2O3 SO3

Heat-resistant glass ............... 57.6 25 8 7.4 2

Glass resistant to heat shock ............... 80.5 12 2 0.5 4 1

Thermometric glass ............... 57.1 10.1 20.6 4.6 7.6

Protective glass 12 86 2

Radiation-resistant glass ............... 48.2 4 0.65 0.15 29.5 1 7.5

Glassfiber 71 3 3 8 15

The density of glass is 2,2008,000 kg/m3. The hardness on Mohs scale is 4.57.5, the
microhardness is 410 giga-newtons/m2, and the modulus of elasticity is 5085 giganewtons/
m2. The ultimate strength of glass is 0.52 giganewtons/m2 under compression, 3090
meganewtons/m2 under bending, and 1.52 kilonewtons/m2 under shock bending. Glass has a
heat capacity of 0.31 kilojoule/kg-K and is resistant to heat shock in the range 80-1000C.
The coefficient of thermal expansion is 0.5612 106/K. The thermal conductivity of glass
is only slightly affected by chemical composition and is equal to 0.71.3 watts/m-K. Glasss
refractive index is 1.42.2, electrical conductivity is 10181018 ohm1cm1, and permittivity is
3.816.

Glassmaking. Glassmaking encompasses processes of preparing the raw materials, mixing the
batch, melting the batch, cooling the glass melt, and forming, annealing, and treating,
thermally, chemically, or mechanically, the glass products. The chief components include
natural formers, for example, SiO2, artificial formers, for example, Na2CO3, and substances
containing basic (alkali and alkaline-earth) and acidic oxides. The main component of most of
the glass produced industrially is silica (silicon dioxide), the content of which ranges from 40
to 80 percent by weight; in quartz and Vycor glass, the percentage ranges from 96 to 100
percent. Quartz sand, enriched if necessary, usually serves as the source of silica in
glassmaking. Boric acid, sodium tetraborate, and other substances are the raw material
containing boron oxide. Aluminum oxide is introduced with, among other substances, feldspars
and nepheline, oxides of alkali metals are introduced with calcined soda and potash, and oxides
of alkaline-earth elements are introduced with such substances as chalk and dolomite.
Auxiliary components include compounds added to impart some property, such as color, or to
accelerate the melting process. For example, compounds of manganese, cobalt, chromium, and
nickel are used as dyes, compounds of cerium, neo-dymium. praseodymium, arsenic, and
antimony are used as de-colorizers and oxidizing agents, and compounds of fluorine,
phosphorus, tin, and zirconium are used as opacifiers substances that cause intensive light
diffusion. Such substances as sodium chloride, ammonium sulfate, and ammonium nitrate are
used as fining agents. Prior to melting, all components are sifted, dried, pulverized if necessary,
and mixed to a completely homogeneous powdery batch, which is then fed to a glass furnace.

The glassmaking process is usually divided into stages of silicate formation, glass formation,
fining, homogenization, and cooling.

When the batch is heated, first the hygroscopic and chemically bound water evaporates. In the
silicate-formation stage, thermal decomposition of the components occurs, as do reactions in
the solid and liquid phases resulting in the formation of silicates. The silicates initially appear
as a caked conglomerate containing even components that do not enter into the reaction. As the
temperature increases, certain silicates fuse and, dissolving in each other, form an opaque melt
containing particles of the batch components and large quantities of gases. The silicate-
formation stage is completed at 1100-1200C.

In the glass-formation stage, the remaining components of the batch dissolve, and a foam
separates. At this point, the melt becomes transparent. This stage coincides with the last part of
silicate formation and occurs at a temperature of 1150-1200C. Glass formation proper is the
process in which the residual quartz grains dissolve in the silicate melt, forming a relatively
homogeneous glass melt. Ordinary soda-lime-silica glass contains approximately 25 percent
silica not chemically bound into silicates, and it is only glass of this type that is suitable for
practical use with regard to chemical stability. Glass formation occurs much more slowly than
silicate formation, taking approximately 90 percent of the total time required for the complete
melting of the batch and approximately 30 percent of the total time required for glass-making.

Chemically bound gases (CO2, SO2, O2) usually constitute approximately 18 percent of the
glass batch. Most of the gas is driven out during melting, but some gas remains in the glass
melt, forming various-size bubbles.

In the fining stage, while the temperature is held at 1500-1600C for a prolonged period, the
melt becomes less supersaturated with gases; large bubbles rise to the surface, while small
bubbles dissolve in the melt. To speed up fining, fining agents, which reduce the surface
tension of the glass melt, are added to the batch. The melt is mixed either with special
refractory stirrers or by the passage of compressed air or some other gas.

Homogenizationa process ensuring uniformity with respect to compositionproceeds

simultaneously with fining. The inho-mogeneity of the glass melt usually results from poor
mixing of the batch components, the high viscosity of the melt, and the slowness of diffusion
processes. Homogenization is promoted by the separation of gas bubbles from the melt, which
in their movement mix inhomogeneous regions and facilitate diffusion, thereby equalizing the
concentration of the melt. Homogenization is best realized through mechanical mixing, a
technique widely used in the production of optical glass.

The final stage of glassmaking is the cooling of the glass melt to the viscosity required for the
forming of glass. This viscosity corresponds to a temperature range of 700-1000C. The chief
requirement in cooling is a continuous slow decrease in temperature without a change in the
composition and pressure of the gaseous medium; if the established gas equilibrium is upset,
seeds (small bubbles) are formed.

Special features characterize the production processes of certain types of glass. For example,
the melting of optical quartz glass in electric glass furnaces is begun in a vacuum, and the final
stage is carried out in an atmosphere of inert gases under pressure. The production of each type
of glass is governed by technological specifications.

The forming of items from the glass melt is carried out mechanically through such processes as
rolling, pressing, pressing and blowing, and blowing on glass-forming machines. After
forming, the items are subjected to heat treatment (annealing).

As a result of annealing, that is holding the glass items at a temperature close to the softening
point, and a subsequent slow cooling, the stresses that arise in the glass upon rapid cooling are
removed. The controlled stress pattern introduced through another heat-treatment process,
tempering, increases mechanical strength and resistance to heat shock and ensures that the
glass will break in a certain (safe) way. Tempered glass is used in, for example, automobiles
and railroad cars.

History. Glass occurs in nature in perlite and obsidian and in such cases is referred to as natural
glass.

Glass other than that found in nature first appeared in connection with the development of
pottery. During firing, a mixture of soda and sand might fall on the clay item, forming a glaze
on the surface of the item. Glassmaking began in the fourth millennium B.C. (Egypt, Southwest
Asia).

Opaque glass, used to imitate semiprecious stones (malachite, turquoise), was the first to be
produced. The composition of glass gradually changed, and the quantity of oxides of alkali
metals decreased from 30 percent (by weight) to 20 percent. Oxides of lead and tin were added,
and compounds of manganese and cobalt were found to impart color. In the second millennium
B.C., glass was melted in Egypt in clay crucibles having a capacity of approximately 0.25 liter.

Fundamental changes in glassmaking occurred at the beginning of the Common Era, when
there were breakthroughs in two important areasthe production of transparent colorless glass
and the forming of glass items by blowing. The production of transparent glass came with
improvements in glass furnaces that made it possible to raise the temperature during the
melting process and to accurately reproduce the conditions for good clarification of the melt.
The blowpipe, invented in the first century B.C., was found to be a versatile tool that could be
used to create simple inexpensive items of everyday use, for example, dishes. The book by the
monk Antonio Neri, published in Florence in 1612, is regarded as the first scientific work on
glassmaking. It included instructions on the use of oxides of lead, boron, and arsenic to clarify
glass and gave compositions of stained glass. In the second half of the 17th century, the
German alchemist J. Kunckel published his work Ars vitraria experimentalis (Experimental
Art of Glassmaking). He also devised a method of producing ruby glass containing gold. In
1615 coal was first used to heat glass furnaces, thereby increasing the range of possible
temperatures. A method of producing mirror plate by casting on copper sheets and then rolling
was proposed in France in the early 17th century. Also at this time, a method of etching glass
with a mixture of fluorspar and sulfuric acid was discovered, and the production of window
glass and optical glass was mastered. Contributions to the scientific basis of glassmaking were
made by the Russian scientists M. V. Lomonosov, E. G. Laksman, S. P. Petukhov, A. K. Chu-
gunov, D. I. Mendeleev, and V. E. Tishchenko.

Manual labor predominated in glassmaking up to the end of the 19th century, and it has been
only in the second half of the 20th century that large-scale production of some types of glass,
for example, window glass and container glass, has been mechanized. Hand forming is now
used only in producing artistic pieces and certain types of glassware used in the home.

N. M. PAVLUSHKIN

Art glass. Art glass includes stained glass, smalt mosaics, artistic vessels, architectural details,
decorative compositions, sculpture (usually small shapes), lamps, and artificial gems. In
antiquity, glassmaking was particularly developed in Egypt (Ptolemaic dynasty, fourth to first
centuries B.C.), Syria, Phoenicia, and China. As a rule, in the art of the ancient world glass
items (small vases, chalices, dishware, beads, earrings, amulets, seals) were made by pressing
glass in open clay molds or by winding the glass melt onto a rod; the glass was usually opaque
and green, pale blue, or turquoise in color. The invention of free glassblowing with a pipe and
the elevation of the temperatures at which melting was carried out enabled Hellenistic and
Roman craftsmen to make thin-walled items, sometimes with two layers, of relatively large
dimensions and with greater transparency and uniformity of weight.

Beginning in the sixth century, Byzantium became a center for the production of art glass.
Opaque colored glass was made for vessels and smalt items. During the Gothic period in
Western Europe, the making of stained glass was an important branch of art, and it stimulated
appreciation of art glass in general. Among the Islamic countries of the Middle East in the 12th
to 14th centuries, Syria was renowned for its manufacture of glass pieces with enamel painting.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Venetian glass became extremely important in European
decorative and applied arts. With the invention of harder types of glass made with calcium in
the 17th century and the development of engraving processes, the center of art glass
manufacture shifted to Bohemia. In the 1770s glass based on lead oxide (lead crystal, or flint
glass) came into wider use, initially in England. Deep cutting, which would reveal the ability of
lead crystal to refract or reflect light, was the chief method of finishing the glass. Beginning in
the 18th century, the production of artificial gems underwent intensive development. At the
turn of the 20th century, such masters of decorative and applied arts as E. Gall, A. Daum, and
E. Rousseau in France, J. Hoffmann in Austria, and L. C. Tiffany in the United States were
turning to art glass. Features of art nouveau predominated in their works, which sought to
evoke associations with natural, chiefly plant, forms. An extraordinary diversity of techniques
and stylistic trends is characteristic of modern art glass. A fascination with refined,
emphatically fanciful configurations and intricate surface designs coexists with an adherence to
ascetically rigorous concepts that single out simplicity of form and transparency of the
unadorned glass as the most important elements of the work.

In ancient Rus, glassmaking (the making of ornaments, vessels, and smalt for mosaics) was
well developed even before the Mongol conquests. Interrupted by the Tatar-Mongol invasion,
the production of art glass was revived in the 17th century when the first glass factory in Russia
was founded in 1635. M. V. Lomonosov, who in 1653 built a factory in Ust-Ruditsy, made
important contributions to the production of colored glass, chiefly that used in mosaics,
bijouterie, and architectural facing. The Imperial Crystal and Glass Factory in St. Petersburg,
which had been founded by Peter I in the early 18th century near Moscow and by the middle of
the century had been transferred, together with the Iamburg factories, to St. Petersburg, played
an extremely important role in the development of Russian glassmaking. The Gus Crystal
Plant and the Diatkovo Crystal Factory were also founded in the 18th century. Htte glass
(enameled and often having a blackish tint), made by free blowing and molding at small
factories owned by merchants, and transparent glass, decorated chiefly by engraving, were
typical of 18th-century Russian art glass. The latter type was made at the imperial factory and
at large private enterprises; many items of opal glass were made at these same enterprises
beginning in the mid-18th century. Details of lighting fixtures and furniture and decorative
details of buildings were made (in the style of classicism) at the imperial factory according to
the designs of such major architects as A. N. Voro-nikhin, C. Cameron, M. F. Kazakov, N. A.
Lvov, K. I. Rossi, and J. Thomas de Thomon.

Beginning in the late 18th century, the casting of lead crystal and the cutting of diamond
patterns was gradually mastered, and in the early 19th century a design imitating the facets of a
brilliant (Russian stone) was typical. By the mid-19th century, a preference for large-size glass
items had developed. Examples were to be seen in elaborate crystal chandeliers, in vases, and
in glass pieces used in architecture. By the end of the century, an imitative trend, manifested in
glass representations of stone, porcelain, wood, and metal, was developing, and the influence
of art nouveau was spreading.

In the USSR, production of art glass began in earnest in the late 1930s. The sculptor V. I.
Mukhina played a leading role in the development of this type of glassmaking. In the 1950s
and 1960s, artistic workshops were set up at nearly all large modern factories producing
household glassware. Prominent masters of decorative and applied arts working at factories in
the USSR in the 1960s and 1970s included G. A. Antonova, A. A. Astvatsa-turian, A. G.
Balabin, S. M. Beskinskaia, M.-T. V. Grabar, O. I. Gushchin, Iu. V. Zhulev, A. D. Zeldich,
Kh. Kyrge, L. M. Mitiaeva, V. S. Muratov, V. S. Murakhver, M. A. Pavlovskii, S. Raudvee, E.
I. Rogov, B. A. Smirnov, V. A. Filatov, V. Ia. Shevchenko, L. O. Iurgen, and E. V. Ianovskaia.
Trends in contemporary art glass include the Leningrad school (uncol-ored and colored crystal
of spare form with diamond facets), the Vladimir school (continuing the traditions of Russian
Htte glass), the Ukrainian school (traditions of Ukrainian Htte glass, bright polychromy), the
Baltic school (delicately colored pressed glass with delicate engraving). The 1960s and 1970s
have witnessed a continuing development of the art of working with stained glass, a wider use
of crystal fountains and glass decoration in architecture, and the production of glass items,
including tapestries of glass fabric, for decorating interiors.