CURIOSITIES OF GLASS-MAKING.
We gather from the ancient writers on glass-making, that the workers in the article had, at a very early period, arrived at so great a degree of proficiency and skill as to more than rival, even before the period of the Christian era, anything within the range of more modern art. The numerous specimens of their workmanship, still preserved in the public institutions of Europe, and in the cabinets of the curious, prove that the art of combining, coloring, gilding, and engraving glass was perfected by the ancients. Indeed, in fancy coloring, mosaic, and mock gems or precious stones, the art of the ancients has never been excelled. Among the numerous specimens it is remarkable that all vessels are round; none of ancient date are yet found of any other form. And no specimen of crystal glass of ancient date has yet been found.
Among the numerous antiques yet preserved, the "Portland Vase" must hold the first place. Pellat, in his work on the incrustation of glass, states: "The most celebrated antique glass vase is that which was during more than two centuries the principal ornament of the Barberini Palace, and which is now known as the 'Portland Vase.' It was found about the middle of the sixteenth century, enclosed in a marble sarcophagus within a sepulchral chamber, under the Monte del Garno, two and a half miles from Rome, in the road to Frascati. It is ornamented with white opaque figures in bas-relief upon a dark blue transparent ground. The subject has not heretofore received a satisfactory elucidation, but the design and more especially the execution are admirable. The whole of the blue ground, or at least the part below the handles, must have originally been covered with white enamel, out of which the figures have been sculptured in the style of a cameo, with most astonishing skill and labor." The estimation in which the ancient specimens of glass were held, is demonstrated by the fact that the Duchess of Portland became the purchaser of the celebrated vase which bears her name, at a price exceeding nine thousand dollars, and bore away the prize from numerous competitors. The late Mr. Wedgwood was permitted to take a mould from the vase, at a cost of twenty-five hundred dollars, and he disposed of many copies, in his rich china, at a price of two hundred and fifty dollars each.
The next specimen of importance is the vase exhumed at Pompeii in 1839, which is now at the Museum at Naples. It is about twelve inches high, eight inches in width, and of the same style of manufacture with the "Portland Vase." It is covered with figures in bas-relief raised out of a delicate white opaque glass, overlaying a transparent dark blue ground, the figures being executed in the style of cameo engraving. To effect this, the manufacturer must have possessed the art of coating a body of transparent blue glass with an equal thickness of enamel or opal-colored glass. The difficulty of tempering the two bodies of glass with different specific gravities, in order that they may stand the work of the sculptor, is well known by modern glass-makers. This specimen is considered by some to be the work of Roman artists; by others it is thought to be of the Grecian school. As a work of art it ranks next to the "Portland Vase," and the figures and foliage, all elegant and expressive, and representative of the season of harvest, demonstrate most fully the great artistic merit of the designer.