Glass Lidded Jar. Adorned with floral patterns. Unmarked. 

Condition: Scratches on some surfaces. 

Size: 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. 

#62 #2399 . 

The history of glassmaking dates back to at least 3600 BC in Mesopotamia, although some evidence suggests they were producing copies of glass objects from an earlier epoch in Egypt. The earliest surviving glass objects were beads found in a Persian dig site dating to around 2000 BC. Glass products remained a luxury until the disasters that overtook the late Bronze Age civilizations seemingly wiped out production, with renewed interest throughout Europe coming about near the beginning of the 1st Century AD. The more delicate and dangerous art of glassblowing was invented by Syrian craftsmen from Sidon and Babylon between 27 BC and 14 AD. The ancient Romans copied and perfected the technique, which consists of blowing air into molten glass with a blowpipe making it into a bubble which can be shaped and formed. These inventions swiftly eclipsed all other traditional methods, such as casting and core-forming, in working glass. After again falling out of common practice during the Dark Ages, it became enormously prevalent once more at the beginning of the Renaissance, remaining a fundamental part of art and cookware into the present era. Industrialization helped to streamline the process of glassmaking as numerous companies and factories appeared in the 17th and 18th Centuries, a key part of this reinvigoration. The modern “studio glass movement” began in 1962 when Harvey Littleton, a ceramics professor, and Dominick Labino, a chemist and engineer, held two workshops at the Toledo Museum of Art, during which they started experimenting with melting glass in a small furnace and creating blown glass art. This approach to glassblowing blossomed into a worldwide movement, producing such flamboyant and prolific artists as Dale Chihuly, Dante Marioni, Fritz Driesbach and Marvin Lipofsky as well as scores of other modern glass artists. Today there are many different institutions around the world that offer glassmaking resources for training and sharing equipment, and many artists design trademarked styles and shapes for their own galleries as well as for companies to mass produce.

Scratches on some surfaces.