History of Glassblowing
Although, we are not completely certain, it appears the Egyptians began glassmaking as far back as 3,000 years ago. The Romans developed the skill to new levels and dominated glassmaking for centuries. The Venetians, in the 1200s, were the first to develop effective methods for removing impurities from the sand and other ingredients and their skills became world-renowned. The term ‘Crystal’ originally derived from the Italian term ‘Cristallo’, which was used to describe Murano Glass; Murano is an island close to Venice, famed for its highly-prized, hand-blown glassware and it’s been said that glassblowers were even held captive on the Island of Murano to keep their glassblowing secrets exclusive.
These days it is common to find many glass items labelled as crystal which is confusing but not necessarily wrong.
Glass v Crystal
The terms crystal and glass differ from country to country. For the Western world, the word "crystal" usually indicates the presence of lead. According to the EU guidelines glass products containing less than 4% of lead oxide are labelled as "glass". Products containing more than 10% of lead oxide are labelled as "crystal" and products containing more than 30% of lead oxide are labelled as "high-lead crystal".
But if you shop for lead crystal in Europe, you might get something different than if you shop for the same thing in America. In the U.S., any glass that contains at least 1 percent lead monoxide is classified as lead crystal. In European nations, glass must contain between 10 and 30 percent lead monoxide to be classified as lead crystal.
What is Glass made of?
Surprisingly glass and crystal glass are both made from sand. By heating sand, also known as silica, to incredibly high temperatures of around 1700°C (3090°F) the sand will melt and turn it into a clear liquid glass. Skilled glassmakers are able to manipulate the malleable glass into different shapes producing many various products as well as coloured glass by adding colour
How to tell the difference
On first glance or from a distance it can be tricky to distinguish glass from crystal but on closer inspection one could possibly see a little more clarity and sparkliness in the crystal with a little more satisfying clear bell-like sound when flicked.
Seeds and Bubbles
It is quite normal for people to wonder why small irregularities or ‘bubbles’ appear in hand made glass or crystal, often called ‘seeds’ - the answer lies in the fact it is hand made and no matter how skilful the craftsman it is impossible to remove all marks and they should not be classed at defects. Bubbles/seeds do not affect the quality of the piece unless they are exceptionally large and/or break the surface. Glass is one of the most difficult materials to work with and even machine made glassware cannot be absolutely perfect. During the melting of the sand gases are evolved and small air particles can be trapped. Strange as it may sound but slight variations in dimensions are the mark of find hand craftsmanship and should not be looked at as flaws or imperfections. Seeds do not affect the quality of the glassware or its beauty and small bubbles are a natural outcome of the glass blowing process. Each mouth blown piece of glass has its own personality and these minor variations add to its uniqueness.
Inkerman Coloured Crystal Glass
Each piece of Inkerman coloured Crystal is individually handblown in England by skilled and experienced craftsmen and is classified as Crystal Glass. No piece is identical and the range is made up of different styles and sizes of Bowls and Vases often given as Wedding, Birthday & Anniversary presents as well as Trophies & Awards. Pieces can be made to order bespokely for clients as shown by the Cazoo Derby Orange Bowls, individually handmade and etched and given as trophies by Epsom Racecourse.
Most Inkerman Tumblers and Wine & Champagne flutes are glass which enables us to etch each piece with personalised & bespoke designs and our Sporting and City Skylines.
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