Glass and Porcelain

Glass has countless use and is one of the most useful of materials.
The people of Egypt started to use glass for decoration in about 1500 B.C. They were soon using glass beads to promote trade and commerce. Bottles and other containers were made to help preserve honey, oil and other perishable items.
The knowledge of glass-making passed from the Egyptians to the Romans. In time Venetian glass-makers become famous for their decorative use of glass. They also perfected the art of making graceful designs on glass.

Ancient Egyptians used coloured glass to decorate their glassware. Even today, coloured glass is widely used. Nickel oxide gives a yellow/ purple colour. Cobalt oxide gives an intense blue. Gold, copper or selenium oxide gives a red colour. These colourd glasses can be seen in the beautiful stained glass windows of the early medieval period churches.
Porcelain is famous for its beauty and strength. It is also known as chinaware because it was in china that porcelain ware first originated.

To make porcelain two ingredients –kaolin and petuntse –are mixed. This mixture is then baked at a very high temperature to form porcelain. There are three main kinds of porcelain – hard paste, soft paste and bone china. The Chinese are famous for their porcelain. The art of making Chinese porcelain has come down from the Tang dynasty. It reached its height under the Ming and Qang dynasties.
By 1100 A.D., the art had spread to Korea and japan. From there it travelled to Europe where soft paste porcelain was used to make beautiful figures.