Antique Glass

Glass is an article or an object through which we can see. A glass can be transparent or translucent or partly see through. A glass is made of silicate which in molten form is added with alkali. The fused molten material is cooled quickly to avoid any unwanted formulation of crystal chunks. These solid chunks in the molten state can pose problem like deferred visibility or distortion in the clarity of the glass and may even reduce the strength of the glass. This is considered as impurity in the glass. The tint or colours can be added to the glass by the method of introducing the different oxides in the glass. The colours can be introduced in the glass by introducing or adding metallic compounds in the molten mix of silicate and alkali. Surprisingly the technique or method manufacturing glass has not changed even in centuries, though the manufacturing capacity has increased phenomenally with the help of machines and big plants/factories but it is formed the same way as done centuries ago. The first recorded use of glass can be traced back to the prehistoric eras when naturally formed glasses were used, which were made by the lava coming out of the craters. The first instance of manufacturing is supposed to be done by the Phonecians. The antique glasses are available widely across the world especially in the Arab world or the Middle East. The oldest glass to have acquired is around 4500 years old. This glass sample is estimated to be from the year 2000 before Christ. The home of Glass is thought as the Arabic world. The region introduced the glasses of different types to the world and its commercial use. The Egypt is believed to have exported the glass to outer world and mainly to the Roman Empire. The Romans developed the raw technique even more and then spread it to different part of world as they went on conquering countries. Glasses were initiated in windows or palanquins somewhere around 1 first century before Christ. These introductions brought revolution in the architecture. The coloured glasses were then introduced in the architecture. The colored glasses were then used in palaces and came to be associated with high class of the society. The colored glasses became a kind of luxury item which could be afforded by the rich only. The modern day glasses were first manufactured in a structured factory in the early part of eighteenth century. At this point of time the glasses were manufactured in large quantity and hence cost less which came in the buying capacity of the common man. Glass industry has thus seen exponential rise in the demand and scope thereafter.

The glasses, apart from architecture and construction industry, find use in vast areas of industry and places. The avenues like automobile industry, scientific research instruments and equipments, cutlery, sunglasses etc. The maximum use of glass is in the construction. The second comes the automotive glass segment wherein not only there are ordinary glasses used but different types of safety glasses are now invented to make the safety of the passengers or the vehicle occupants the most important aspect. There are basically two kinds of automotive glasses namely tempered and laminated glasses. The laminated Glasses are the ones that consist of two layers of glasses and a laminated layer of PVB (Poly vinyl butyrate) sandwiched between the glasses. This Poly vinyl butyrate layer is for the safety of the vehicle occupants, as when there is damage on the glass or any impact on the glass it holds the glass from caving in i.e. it does not let the crushed glass fly in thereby keeping the passengers safe from any harm. These laminated glasses are generally used in the windscreen that is the front glass in the vehicle. The other type of the glass is the tempered glass; this is the one which gets crushed when there is an impact. This is generally used in the windows of the vehicles. Glasses were introduced in automobiles in the 1905 that too in front of the driver’s seat only. At that time it was used as a luxury option in the vehicles as an expensive substitute to the goggles used to wade off the dirt from the road. Though the laminated glasses were introduced in early part of 1900s somewhere around 1908 but it found use in automobiles till 1920s. Since the United States of America’s Government considers anything older than 25 years as antique in automobile section, the parts such as glass from the turn of the century are considered as antique glasses. The wrap around glasses were introduced in the mid 1920s in the auto market specially in the cars which now sported glass all around the body. By the start of the 1930s almost ninety percent of the cars had all around glasses to make the vehicle safe, clean and faster by reducing the air friction. The curved glasses, from the four corners of the glass, were introduced in the year 1957, these not only gave vehicle manufacturers to introduce various body designs but also considerably reduced the air friction while driving, making car designs more aerodynamic. The glass on the front provides structural strength to the vehicle as well. One big advantage about this being the laminated glasses if damaged can be repaired through innovative techniques. The damages are repaired fully as per the set standards by the standardizing boards of the respective countries. The repairs are done with the help of resins which are specially invented fluids. These resins form bonds with the glass and after treatment through ultra violet rays, gives glass, almost zero distortion in the vision and lends the glass more strength than the original glass. The repairs were never even thought of in the glass industry as it never seemed that a broken glass could ever be repaired again.

The use of glass in the sunglasses can be traced to China where these were used as early as 12th century a.d. The sunglasses have also come of age with infra red and ultra violet rays blocking sunglasses. These antique goggles or sunglasses are kept in museums.