Phcenician.— It has been argued that though the discovery of glass was made in Egypt, and by the Egyptians, the invention was put into practical form upon Phcenician ground, that Phcenician sand was used in its manu facture, and that its merchants were the first traders in the commodity, distributing it ex tensively over a large area in a day when trans portation was not at all easy. Much of the glass made by the Phcenicihns could scarcely be distinguished from that made in Egypt, but they had some characteristics peculiar to them selves. It is claimed that the colored glass bead originated there, was made most extensively and formed a considerablepart of the mer chandise with which they traded when traveling over Europe, India and other parts of the East, and into Africa. Discoveries in ancient tombs suggest made many of the class of small vases associated with mortuary practices. Though small objects — many of them personal ornaments — appear to have been the principal part of the Phcenician production, they shared with Egypt a reputation for making large statues, obelisks and columns in green glass, possibly imitative of the emerald. In some classes of production the Phoenicians reached the greatest perfection, and possibly owing to their trading facilities the output of their work shops was larger than any others of their period.
China and India.— The earliest period of glass-making by the Chinese has been put at about two centuries s.c. Whether they dis covered their own processes or developed the inventions of earlier craftsmen is not known, but it was not at all unlikely that the making of glass in the early Chinese form was associated with their efforts in the glazing of pottery, a science in which they excelled. Chinese forms and color effects in glass arc suggestive of perhaps earlier work in carving objects from rock crystals, jade and precious stones; an art in which they were among the earliest experts. They made a species of glass known as lieou-li, capable of being worked into imitation pearls. Another kind of glass was named po-li. While some of the Chinese glass showed a distinct attempt to imitate natural stone forms and effects one of their early experts reversed the order and was accredited with being able, by means of fire, to change stones into crystal. There is no connected history regarding Chinese glass, but occasional record suggests a regular continuation of the industry. In the 7th and 12th centuries there is mention of its use in valuable objects for presentation purposes. The city of Djan-kou is mentioned as a glass making centre in the 12th century. A 16th century writer eulogized a specimen of Chinese glass as "a fragment of that matter whereof the heavens consist.* The work of the Chinese glass maker has been of great assistance to craftsmen in western Europe during the last century, and some of the most artistic glass ware of modern times has resulted from the study of its features.
Ancient Indian glass bore a striking resem blance to that made by the Chinese of the same period.
Greece.— There is not much history to sup port the association of the Greeks with glass making before our era, but mention is made of the use of °cups of glass,* for drinking pur poses in the 5th century s.c., and burning
glasses were also known at that time. Glass for architectural decoration was known to have been used by the Greeks in a very early period.
About the time when the Barberini (Port land) vase— universally regarded as the finest example of ancient glass extant — came into the possession of the Portland family (1784), there arose a question as to whether this gem was of Greek or Roman origin. While it was known the Romans had very extensively produced this class of form— for sepulchral purposes—and excelled in the art of carving glass,• that the urn was found in a Roman tomb, and was sup posed to contain the ashes of a Roman emperor, there were certain characteristics which were decidedly more suggestive of Greek than Roman origin. Some of the critics not only main tained that it was of Greek origin but that it was the work of Phidias himself. Possibly this theory was suggested by the similarity be tween the low-relief carving upon the vase, and the bas-relief sculptures, by Phidias, upon the walls of the temple of Minerva at Athens. If it could be proved to be the work of Phidias (about 430 s.c.), or even of his time, it would be quite as much a tribute to the science of the chemist who compounded the materials, and the skill of the craftsman who fashioned the urn itself, as to the artist who sculptured the figures upon it; that particular form of ornamentation being then at its best in Greece, while the class of glass-making was not perfected till six cen turies later at Rome.
Rome.—An authority upon ancient glass has made the assertion that during the period of the Roman Empire the manufacture of glass reached a point of development which in some respects has never been excelled nor even per haps equalled. This statement was supported by an enumeration of some of the purposes to which the Roman glass was put, and the va riety and extent of its production. Then, as now, the article for domestic use was the lar gest item of production, and this could be set down to the absence in those days of any suit able kind of glazed pottery for the same pur poses. An enormous amount of glass was used for architectural decoration and also for personal ornaments. The wealth and luxury of Rome had a stimulating effect upon the production of the most costly works of art in several varieties of glass, and no other period has been so prolific in this sense. Pure crystalline glass was the most valued of any kind, and was more costly than the precious metals. Vessels for sacramental purposes, and urns as recept acles for the ashes of the dead, were extensively used throughout the whole period; the most precious examples of glass manufacture were those deposited in sepulchres ; as many as 20 specimens have been found in a single tomb. The manufacture of artificial gems in glass was brought to great perfection. Roman glass of all kinds was exported very extensively as has been proved by the abundance of examples and fragments discovered at widely distributed points away from Rome.