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Carnival Glass - How did it all begin?
Member Gary asked “Who ever thought of making the
glass iridized? Was it an accidental discovery? Did some glassmaker
spill some chemicals on the glass one night. Thinking he ruined the
masterpiece and threw it out. Only, to his discovery the next day,
realized he accidentally made a masterpiece for generations to come?"
In fact the first iridized glass found was indeed
an accidental discovery! Iridized glass was found in both Ancient Greece
and Egypt - seems that when glass is buried for great lengths of time a
process called "devitrification" occurs. Devitrification means the
breaking down or chemical decomposition of the glass and it is caused by
being buried for such great lengths of time in moist and often acidic
soils. But how to cause this iridescence to happen on purpose - in the
manufacture? The answer to that was provided by several European glass
makers in the mid 1800s. Iridized glass was first made in Bohemia and
then in England - during the 1870s, the iridized glass was exhibited at
international fairs in both Vienna and Paris. Some of the items had
patterns - Thomas Webb's "Brain" glass for example, had a crackle effect
- but the patterns were not press molded like Carnival. This early
iridized glass was blow molded and the patterns were made with applied
decoration. In the case of the Brain glass, the pattern was achieved
through plunging the glass into cold water to get the crackle, then
re-heating, blowing and iridizing.
Later in the late1880s and early 1900s, makers
such as Louis Comfort Tiffany took the art of iridized glass to new
levels. Note that Tiffany's lustre glass (Favrile) was made in the same
way that Fenton make their Favrene. (Remember that when you look at our
Favrene commemorative!) Salts of rare metals were dissolved in the
molten glass and through various stages of re-heating, were brought to
the surface to give a distinctive effect. Added to this, Tiffany's glass
(like Fenton's) was then sprayed to give an iridescent effect (usually
with various chlorides - different metals gave different color effects).
When Carnival Glass came on the scene it was as a
response to the times. Machinery had advanced, mass production was the
watchword of the era. The technology involved in iridizing glass was
well known and the materials were available. But the real key to it all
was to be found in the public taste - in what the people wanted. They'd
seen the incredibly expensive Tiffany glass and they loved it. They
wanted gorgeous, rich patterns - they wanted fabulous iridescence. But
mostly they wanted it cheap. Affordable. Step forward Frank Fenton. Step
forward Harry Northwood, Tom Dugan, and Captain Muhleman. You all know
the rest of the story :-)
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