The technique of engraving on glass which was applied at the beginning of its history on the pieces coming from Venice turned into Germany in the technique of the wheel. The father of the Bohemian engravers was Gaspare Lehmann who worked at the end of ’500 and early ’600. The innovation that became known worldwide the Bohemian products was the use of carbonate of potash, substituted to the sodium one. The result was a pure crystal made ââeven harder by the high proportion of silica derived from quartz stone.
The pure and hard crystal is still used today by producers of glass jewellery around the world, and particularly from those who specialize in Pandora Murano which require processes to achieve absolutely unbreakable glass beads.
The use of wooden molds was corrected by grinding, which took away any irregularities. Also in the production of glass beads in the Pandora Murano style is often made use of molds in wood or in graphite, and the surface is grinded especially in the vicinity of the holes to allow for a perfect alignment of the inserts in silver with the roundness of the bead.
Glasses of this type were also processed in Nuremberg, Thuringia, in Stuttgart, Dresden, Brunswick, Potsdam, where colored glass were also made in imitation of precious stones, while being all the rage the opaque white glass, widespread in Prussia in the same way as porcelain of Saxony. The cut and then etched glasses was in accordance with the rococo style, so popular in Germany.
Parallel to this German development, there was also a revival in the region of Flanders. After the Roman period, of which the archaeological excavations have given interesting examples, the first news concerning the Netherlands date back to 1421 with a glass factory located in Namur. At the beginning of the ’500 new factories open in Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi.
But for now they continue to import from Venice or tend to create a sort of “verre de Venise” with the help of Italian workers, as in the neighboring France. In 1541 Gian Michele Cornacchini settled in Antwerp and there opened a workshop, obtaining authorization for the manufacture of mirrors. Venetian art is continued by others, especially by Giovanni di Francesco from Venice and the Pasquetti who directed successfully the glass factory. But the most important glassmaking center is the city of Liege, where in half of the 500 already flourishes in the production with a Venetian style, thanks to the furnace by Nicola Francisi of Italian origin.
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