5000 Years of Glass

A new edition of this definitive world history of glassmaking and decorative techniques from 2500 BC, updated to cover the first decade of the 21st century.

This classic book traces the history of glassmaking from its origins in Western Asia some 5000 years ago, through the invention of glassblowing around the first century BC, to the introduction of mechanised processes and new styles in the 19th and 20th centuries. It highlights the flourishing industries of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, the extraordinary achievements of the Roman Empire, the elegant vessels of the Islamic Near East, the superb mastery of Renaissance Venice and the wide-ranging experiments of modern Europe and America. With a new final chapter by John P. Smith, Editor of The Glass Circle journal, to bring the book right up to date with the latest developments, 5000 Years of Glass is still the definitive single-volume general history of this most versatile art form.

About the Author:

Hugh Tait - former Deputy Keeper of the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities at the British Museum, Honorary Fellow of the Corning Museum of Glass, former President of the International Association for the History of Glass.
Carol Andrews - former Assistant Keeper in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum.
William Gudenrath - former President of the New York Experimental Glass Workshop, Resident Adviser of The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, New York.
Ralph Pinder-Wilson - former Deputy Keeper of Islamic Collection at the British Museum.
Veronica Tatton-Brown - former Assistant Keeper in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum.
John P. Smith - Editor of The Glass Circle journal. Recently retired from world-renowned antique dealers, Mallett.