History of Glass and Crystal Vases

The oldest glass vases in existence date back to the 16th Century B.C.E. Only fragments have been found of Mesopotamian glass vases from that era, but a glass goblet belonging to the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III (1504 to 1450 B.C.E.) is on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Glass and crystal vases have undergone a strange metamorphosis since that era: from expensive luxuries to jealously guarded secrets to commonplace decorations.

The Colorful History of Glass Vases
The discovery of glassblowing in the Roman Empire of the 1st Century B.C.E. made glass vases accessible to much of the known world. The most famous example is the Portland vase, made in Alexandria in Egypt between 20 B.C.E. and 100 A.C.E., and now housed at the British Museum in London.

However, glassblowing remained a secretive and esoteric trade throughout the Middle Ages. Venice emerged as the global center of glassmaking skills in the 13th Century, and Italy employed strict measures to ensure it would remain so. Foreign glass could not enter nor foreign glassmakers work in Venice, and Venetian glassmakers could be killed for disclosing secrets or working abroad.

The craft's incredible secrecy sometimes had unusual consequences. Though the creation of ruby glass made with gold existed in the Roman Empire, the secret of ruby glass was lost until the 17th Century. This strange phenomenon inspired a film by renowned director Werner Herzog titled Heart of Glass, about a Bavarian village whose chief glassmaker dies without passing on the secret of ruby glass, thus dooming the entire town.

The Clear History of Crystal Vases
Vases made of pure crystal were first created by Italian glassblowers in the late 15th Century, but it was a sign - or perhaps a metaphor - of the increasing transparency of the glassmaking industry that these crystal clear vases were also developed elsewhere.

The use of lead crystal to make vases was patented by the English glassmaker George Ravenscroft in 1674. His task had been to find a substitute for the Venetian crystal made from quartz sand and potash. By replacing potash with lead oxide, Ravenscroft made it possible to create crystal vases that were better at refracting light and thus more brilliant and transparent.