Obsidian is a stunning product of natural formation
While it’s easy to take our daily amenities for granted, it can be fruitful to stop and appreciate the origins of our most common produce. Glass for example benefits our daily lives in more ways than we often care to think, yet how many of us actually know the process and history behind it?
Believe it or not but glass-making only goes back to approximately 3500-4000 BC and even then, this was only in aid of small, basic formations such as glass coated beads. There is of course naturally formed glass (obsidian) as a result of volcanic activity but human formed glass is currently believed to originate in north Syria, Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The first common method of glass formation was glass blowing which began to dominate around 100 BC after being discovered on the Syro-Judean coast. This method is still used today, albeit in a more controlled and progressive fashion. Despite the revolution in glass making ushered in by this method, there is strong indication that colourless glass had been formed in the 9th century BC within Syria and Cyprus. In Britain it’s believed that glass making first began to flourish in Wearmouth around 680AD.
Most interestingly, the Roman Empire brought glass making technology to Britain but protected it with militant secrecy to stop the British and other Europeans from learning and adapting the process. Glass has often been referred to as the ‘Roman Plastic’ due to the excessive use of glass vessels, containers and primitive architectural formations such as windows.
While glass was readily available to the Romans, in Britain it remained something of a privilege until 1845 when the Excise Act was abolished thus removing the excessive taxes previously placed on the produce. In 1907 the glass industry took a huge step towards resembling its current state as the first fully automated glass machine took pride of place at Owens of Illinois in America. This allowed the company to produce up to 2,500 glass bottles every hour, a number unprecedented for the time.
Today, it’s a huge industry under constant scientific evolution… to explore our own Lincoln glass service please click here or give us a call on 01522 539719.
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