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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Glass blowing history

It was in ancient Mesopotamia that the art of glass blowing originated, when an innovator working with glass discovered that molten glass could be blown like a balloon when air is blown through a glass tube. This was followed by the use of metal pipes at least two centuries before the birth of Christ.

Glass blowing history

This revolutionized glass production, and Romans rich and poor began using glass. The Roman Empire established glass-manufacturing centers in all parts of the kingdom and Italy, France, Germany, as well as Switzerland and many regions along the Mediterranean. Venice perfected glass blowing and exported Venetian glass to all corners of the world. The process of glass blowing was simplified by the Industrial Revolution, in 1820, when Bakewell, Page, and Bakewell patented the mechanical pressing of glass.

The Crown glass process-glass blowing

A technique called “the Crown glass process” was used to make glass until the mid part of the 1800s. A glassblower would spin around 9 lbs of molten glass at the end of a rod until it spread out into a flat disk nearly 5 feet across. The glass disk would then be cut into panes. Glass from Venice was highly prized for over four centuries as they managed to keep this technique secret. In 1688, a method for casting glass was invented.

This led to glass and glass panes in becoming a much more common material. The glass pressing machine was invented in 1827 and facilitated mass production of relatively inexpensive glass items. The glass pioneer, William J. Blenko, is recognized as first glass producer in America to use the cylinder method of creating flat glass by the 1920s.

CONCLUSION

It was naturally occuring glass, like obsidian (glass naturally created from volcaninc magma), that has been in use since the stone age.It was then used as a glaze for pottery until the method of glass-blowing was developed in the first century b.c., making glass more available. Its name is derived from the Latin word for ice, "glacies." Glass can be made out of pure silica, but to make the glassmaking process easier, ash and lime is added. From these basic ingredients, a variety of glass can be formed.