III.—On the Process of Decay in Glass, and, incidentally, on the Composition and Texture of Glass at different periods, and the History of its Manufacture

Abstract

Glass is, in many respects, one of the most remarkable substances in the world. No known substance combines such varied uses with such matchless beauties. For innumerable domestic purposes it has for centuries been considered a necessity of daily life. Without glass innumerable paths in science and the arts would never have been explored; and in these paths progress has been made in proportion as the methods of making glass have been improved. On the other hand the peculiar beauties inherent in or incident to this material are so great that at no period in history has man been able to grasp completely more than one of them at once. The Venetians realized above all others the marvellous capacity of glass for being wrought into all kinds of beautiful forms; our Gothic forefathers developed beyond all others its capabilities in respect of colour; the Phoenicians and Romans did wonders both in form and colour, but were nevertheless inferior to the Venetians in the former, and to our Gothic forefathers in the latter; we, in our day, excel in developing to the utmost (wonderful talent that it is!) the crystalline transparency and brilliancy of glass, but it is in this direction only that we have any true art or artists—in form and colour we do comparatively nothing. Thus, in each instance, the full realization of a period has been but as it were a passing glimpse—it has never been found possible to retain it, so as to carry it into the full realization of another period; even as the highest natural beauty is but for a moment—it increases until maturity, and then immediately begins to fade.