Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/16

 8 GLASS great skill was attained in the production of ornamental articles. At this early period only articles of luxury were produced, chiefly vases and cups for the tables of the wealthy, or urns Fio. 4. Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Glass in the Metro- politan Museum of Art, New York. and lachrymatories for their tombs. In the 3d century articles of glass were in common use. Numerous specimens of Roman glass have been found in the ruins of Herculaneum and Pom- peii. From these it appears that glass was used for admitting light to dwellings in Pompeii, al- though other houses had window frames filled with a kind of transparent talc. The great per- fection which the art had attained among the Romans is attested by the celebrated Barberini or Portland vase in the British museum, said to be the most beautiful example known of glass of two layers. This vase was found about the middle of the IGth century in a marble sar- cophagus near Rome, and is supposed to have been made as early as 138 B. C. After having been for more than two centuries the principal ornament in the Barberini palace in Rome, it was purchased by the duke of Portland for 1,029, and placed in the British museum. Here it was broken by a madman into many pieces, which were afterward joined together with great skill. The vase is about 10 inches high, and is composed of two layers of glass, the under one being of a deep blue color and the other of opaque white. The raised figures appear in white upon a beautiful background of blue, and by some are supposed to rep- resent the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. In the 13th century, and for several centu- ries after, the Venetian was the best and the most famous glass in commerce. The princi- pal works were at Murano, one of the islands adjacent to Venice. Here the manufacture was long successfully prosecuted, being sus- tained by the fostering care of the government, and its workmen being invested with extraor- dinary privileges. Glass mirrors were probably first made here, and they became famous all over Europe, gradually taking the place of the mirrors of polished metal which were before in use. Many of the ornamental objects they produced were exceedingly ingenious, and are reproduced and admired even at this day. The Bohemians next acquired reputation in this art ; and owing to the purity of the materials found in abundance in their country, as well as FIG. 5. 1. The Portland Vase. 2. Opposite figures enlarged. 8. Device on bottom. 4, 4. Devices on, handles. to their skill, their wares still continue famous. The superiority of the Bohemians was evinced especially in the production of white glass, made with pure quartz and lime and the pot-