ancient Lamps - Peking Glass

ancient Lamps - Peking Glass

In our contemporary world, glass is an every day part of life, but this was not always so.

The elegant and ethereal medium known as "glass" is naturally and basically made of sand, or silica and a flux; sodium or potassium. These elements fuse together when melted at a very high temperature, resulting in the product effortlessly recognised as glass.

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Glass is an old invention, having been produced for the past 5000 years and particularly since the development of techniques in the 18th century. The first glass makers were found in old Egypt and Mesopotamia, 5000 years ago with examples of this early glass surviving today.

At the time, it was seen as a very exotic product and study has shown that the uncomplicated techniques used were held as underground by those old artisans. The first glass products were rather crude bottles and flasks, produced by moulding the basic shape from mud. The modelled shape was held by inserting a short metal rod into one end with the shape then dipped into molten glass thus forming the "core" of the flask shape. Long molten threads of glass, known as "canes", were then wound around this basic shape until the flask or bottle was complete.

Before its fall, Egypt held the monopoly on glass development throughout the known world. When the Romans invaded Egypt, they speedily adopted the glass development secrets discovered. It was, in fact, the Romans who prolonged the development of glass development with the introduction of glass blowing, around the 1st century Bc. It was from this Roman development of glass development that led to the production of glass straight through out the Western world.

In the meantime, the Chinese had discovered glass which, in old China, was attributed with special properties such as the quality to keep evil spirits away. It was also considered to have medical properties being related with gemstones and crystals, however, prior to the 17th century, the Chinese found exiguous use for this product.

It should be remembered that, up until the 19th century, architecture worldwide used very exiguous glass in windows, with the Chinese favouring sheets of penetrative paper. Nor was glass required for storehouse purposes due to China's very industrialized and refined production of porcelain.

While China had been producing glass since about 700 Bc with various small glass workshops operating throughout the country, most of these workshops with their small random outputs, were short lived.

It is also apparent that glass did not rate Imperial patronage until the late 17th century with the Kang Xi Emperor (1662-1722) establishing the first state glass installation as an Imperial workshop in 1696. The workshop was settled within the palace walls of the Forbidden City and was staffed with the best craftsmen to be found in China.

The beautiful Chinese glass, so well known in the West as "Peking glass", was in fact, introduced to the Chinese by a 17th century German Jesuit missionary priest. The missionary supervised the establishment of the Imperial workshop and brought many Western techniques of glass and enamel work to the Chinese court. As a result, Peking glass has been correctly described as a "stepchild" in the great family of Chinese ornamental arts.

Interestingly, it was the introduction of snuff, or, finely powdered tobacco, that led to the establishment of the Imperial workshop. When Europeans first arrived in China, not only did they examine new and entertaining things, but the Chinese, equally unaware of the Western world, discovered ideas new to China and snuff taking was one of them!

Due to the fast developing habit of using snuff at the Imperial court and it speedily gaining popularity in high society, glass snuff bottles were produced. The Imperial workshop commenced production of tiny bottles specifically, for the purpose of containing snuff or powdered tobacco being for use by the Imperial family, or, given as gifts to civil and forces ministers of the Imperial court and foreign diplomats.

These early productions were monochromes or, singular colours in Imperial egg yolk yellow, ruby red and opaline green. They were of uncomplicated shape, or, ''scholar's taste'', ranging from plain to very ornamental pieces with multicolored glass overlays, the glass being whether carved or faceted.

Overlay glass was later developed. This complex dipping a glass item into a vat of molten glass of contrasting colour. The shape was then cooled, requiring a 3 day duration after which it was decoratively carved revealing the former coloured layer of glass.

Glass carving is a lengthy and tedious process, both time entertaining and labour intensive. The final shaping and polishing is done by hand in the former jade-cutting process of methodical milling and polishing.

Today, Peking glass is found in many forms both functional and purely decorative.

ancient Lamps - Peking Glass

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