SINCE the South Kensington Museum purchased the largest collection of old and modern Spanish glass in Europe, the taste for and study of this branch of industry has increased to a very great extent. It is evident that this manufacture attained great importance during the three last centuries, and possibly existed at an earlier period; and that glass objects made in Spain possess a special and distinct character, different to those made in other countries. Before the objects at the Kensington Museum were collected, the existence of this industry in Spain was comparatively unknown.
The earliest mention of glass works in Spain will be found in Pliny, who, while explaining the proceedings which were employed in this industry, says that glass was made in a similar manner in France and Spain: "Jam vero et per Gallias Hispaniasque simili modo harenae temperantur."—L. XXXVI. cap. 66.
The next allusion to this industry will be found in the works of San Isidoro. This eminent man lived in the 7th century, and after quoting the observations of the Roman author, gives us to understand that this industry existed before his time in Italy, France, and Spain: "Olim fiebat et in Italia, et per Gallias, et Hispaniam arena alba mollissima pila mola que terebatur." [Divi. Isid. Hisp. Etymologiarum, I. XVI. cap. 16.] It is evident, therefore, from this passage, that glass was made to a large extent in the Spanish Peninsula during the Roman period. This is confirmed by the number of specimens which are constantly found in ruins. We learn also that the manufacture had ceased to exist in the seventh century.
Glass vessels of the Roman period found in Spain are similar in form and manufacture to those which we know were made in France and Italy. This is not to be wondered at, if we remember that the Romans imposed their artistic forms on the countries they conquered. It is impossible to classify the specimens of this industry into determined localities. The study of the glass paste may, at some future period, give materials for such a classification.
One special characteristic of Roman glass may be taken into account to be applied to Spanish glass of a later period. We find ancient specimens constantly ornamented with a sort of thread or line which runs all over the vase. These lines are sometimes made of transparent glass, and sometimes of white opaque glass, termed in Italy latticinio from its milky whiteness. When the industry of glass making was revived in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, classical forms were copied in this as in other industries; this line ornamentation was copied on a much smaller scale in Italy than in Spain, where it constituted the chief and constant characteristic of glass making. It is an interesting fact that objects of a traditional Moorish form have the greatest amount of lines of this style of ornamentation. We cannot, until this subject is more thoroughly investigated, do otherwise than infer either that the tradition of this industry was preserved in Spain, or that the Arabs imported this style of decoration from the same localities from which it had been copied by the Romans centuries before.
The comparison of these different styles of glass making can be carried out in a most satisfactory manner in London by examining the fine specimens of glass in the British Museum (Slade collection), and the old Spanish glass at South Kensington.
We have no specimens of glass of the Visigothic period. If, as is most probable, glass was used by the Visigoths, they may have imported it from the East, for the text I have quoted from the works of St. Isidore seems to prove that this industry had ceased to exist in his time. The glass paste of different colours must, however, be mentioned, which is set in gold in the Visigothic crowns found at Guarrazar, near Toledo. It imitates precious stones, and was very generally used during the Byzantine period; its occurrence here makes it appear probable that at any rate the tradition of this industry existed in Spain.
From the 8th to the end of the 15th century, during the Mahomedan domination, I infer that the industry of glass making became as important in Spain as that of pottery. No specimens, however, of the earlier period have reached us, and we must judge of what it was from the glass vessels in the Kensington Museum, belonging to the Renaissance period, which preserve their Oriental form, and are of a different style to that of Venice and other localities in Europe.
A most interesting fact, which confirms this theory, will be found in a translation made from Hebrew to Arabic of a work which treats of the virtues of precious stones, Lapidario [MS. Biblioteca del Escorial], quoted by Rico y Sinobas in "Almanaque de la Industria," 1873. We do not know exactly when the author Abolais lived, but in the prologue to this MS. it is mentioned that Dn. Alfonso el Sabio found this book at Toledo, and gave orders to a Jew called Juda Mosca, and a priest, Garci Perez, to translate it into Spanish. The translation was terminated in 1250. Technical details are given in this volume concerning the substances which are employed in glass making, and some of the minerals found in Spain which are used in painting or enamelling it, but as this work was written to explain the properties of minerals, as they were understood in the author's time, he does not enter into any interesting details, or describe the forms of these objects. Another allusion to glass making in Spain will be found in Al Makkari, the Arabian author of "Mohamedan Dynasties in Spain," [London, 1840, 2 vols. 4to], who quotes an Oriental writer of the 13th century, who says, "Almeria was also famous for the fabrication of all sorts of vases and utensils, whether of iron, copper, or glass." (Vol. I. p. 51.)
The tradition of this industry has been undoubtedly preserved at Almeria until the present day, for in this province, and in the adjoining villages of the province of Granada, we find that specimens are to be met with, which possess a marked Oriental form, and are completely free from the influence of Italian models which existed in other localities. The most characteristic specimens consist of jars of two, four and eight handles, bowls with ribs and handles, pilgrim's bottles, etc., of which interesting examples exist at the South Kensington Museum. Woodcuts of several of these are given.