Among the specimens of old Spanish glass we may consider to have proceeded from Cataluña the following examples, forming part of the collection acquired in 1873. Bottles, Nos. 249 to 262, cups, Nos. 336 to 339, and tumblers, Nos. 303 to 305, 312 to 314, and 328, '29. Among these, there are some which are undoubtedly still made in the locality. The most characteristic are the arruxiadós, or borracha, a vessel spirally ribbed with several narrow spouts, used by the peasant girls of the villages to sprinkle rose water in the festival of the patron saint of the district; the porrones, a bottle with a long spout, used by the peasantry for drinking wine; the cantaro, a jug, funnel shaped with wide mouth, handle and curved spout, and the pilas de agua bendita, a holy water vessel of different shapes.
Very few details have reached us of the famous glass works which existed at Cadalso, in the province of Toledo; we know, however, that the glass made there was as excellent as that made at Cataluña, and was compared in a similar manner to the Venetian. The unknown author of "El Crotalon," published by the Spanish Bibliophiles, from a rare MS., in 1871, writing in the time of the Emperor Charles V., mentions "the fine glass made at Cadalso." Marineus Siculus also writes in 1517 in his "De las Cosas Memorables de España," [Alcala de Henares, 1539, fol., Vol. I.,] that "Glass was made in several towns of Castile, the most important of them being Cadalso, which supplied the whole kingdom." It would appear therefore that this glass manufactory was already established in that locality in the 16th century, and we frequently meet with allusions to the excellence of its productions in contemporary authors. The town itself has continually been called "Cadalso de los vidrios." Mendez Silva in his "Poblacion general de España," [Madrid, 1645, p. 40] says: "They make in three glass ovens fine glass of beautiful colours and forms, which can compete with the Venetian." At the South Kensington Museum, there are two fine specimens of glass made at Cadalso—No. 1068, '73, a drinking vessel of white glass, the upper part in form of the Spanish vessel called "bucaro," ribbed and streaked with colours; the stem pineapple shape, with remains of gilding (this is represented in the woodcut); and No. 1082, '73, a bowl of plain glass, the lower part spirally waved, and decorated with scale pattern in gold and coloured dots. Both these objects proceed from a nunnery in a village near Cadalso.
Larruga says in his "Memorias," [Madrid, 1791, Vol. X., p. 53,] that "two glass ovens existed at Cadalso, which belonged to the Marchioness of Villena; they are worked by the inhabitants of this town. One of the ovens has fallen into disuse from the beginning of the present (18th) century, and the fame of the glass made there, formerly so renowned for its clearness and variety of the objects made, has declined. In examining the state of this industry during the reign of Charles II. we find how much it had fallen off, for Dn. Antonio de Obando in 1692, undertook to reestablish it, and to make glass vessels, and window glasses as had been made there formerly. It appears that 200 dozens of objects of different kinds were sent out from there yearly." The vase, No. 333, '73 represented in the woodcut is an example of the coloured glass of Cadalso.
