Last update has included some minor updates, but also a new page on the Bear Garden Glass House. Also we have added a new paper on 17th Century Glass Technology for download click here for download (178KB!).
For a whole host of reasons, the site was not updated in 2001. One of these reasons was that we were too busy actually doing glass research to write about it, but I hope that the results of this work will feature on the site in the coming months.
The last changes were aimed at improving the style, layout and accessability of the material. These involved some major changes to the classifications of glasses, with four extra groups being introduced. We also added access to a research analysis summary. Click here to download the current summary document (31KB) and please email us with any comments you have so we can incorporate these. The research needs are discussed in more detail under 'Science'.
It has been known for many years that most glasses fluoresce under ultraviolet light. We have developed a scientific analysis technique based on fluorescence and used it on some 17th Century glasses found a range of archaeological contexts. By comparing these glasses, it is possible to trace some of the changes that were introduced in order to perfect the new lead glass. More details... A paper on this topic was presented to the XIX International Congress on Glass, Edinburgh in July 2001 and a copy of the paper is available here (126KB).
We are still looking for a few relevant books. If you have any of the following for sale, or know where they are for sale, please let us know;
Jill Turnbull's excellent book, based on her PhD thesis, was published in Edinburgh in 2001. It gives a well researched and carefully presented view of the rise of the industry that aimed 'to serve the whole nation with glass'. More than any other book on the topic it gives an insight into the need for the availability of capital, access to markets, fuel, skilled workmen and the right raw materials in order to acheive a thriving industry.
A 1994 soft-cover reissue of a classic 1963 book by Ivor Noel Hume, giving "An Archaeologist's View of Colonial Life and History". Contains much of interest to those outside Virginia, and features some glass from the "pioneering" period.
A small soft-covered booklet by B.Lanzerotti, published by Twin Willows in November 1993 which gives historic recipies for American (and English) drinks. Many of these are traditional and probably date back before the seventeenth century.
This excellent book by Eleanor S.Godfrey (UK - Oxford University Press 1977, ISBN 0 19 828267 2; also believed to be a US edition) recounts the history of English glass making in this period, mainly from the insights obtained from surviving documents.
One of Collins Archaeology series, this volume written by Ruth Hurst Vose in 1980 gives a good general introduction to English Glass and its archaeology. This book is probably not still in print, but is available in a number of second-hand shops that specialise in glass books.
A periodical about current and past glass making related to Altare in Northern Italy. Many of the European pioneering glass makers originated from Altare so this publication has relevance far outside the specific locality. Written in Italian, but with English summaries. Available from: Museo del Vetro di Altare, piazza San Sebastiano, 17041 Altare, Savona, Italy.
Web site about Alte Vitrie, the on-line magazine of Altare Glass (in Italian) -(Automatic Italian English translation service available here)
Written in Dutch with English summaries, this book "Glass without Gloss" provides a major reference work to the medieval and post-medieval glass excavated in Holland. Its author, Harold E. Henkes is to be congratulated on his work in producing this 400-page book, which combines illustrations of excavated utility glass from 1300-1800 with comparable items from contemporary Dutch paintings and engravings. It is number 9 in the Rotterdam Papers series (ISBN 90-802-118-1-8 geb) and was published in 1994.
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