Renaissance Glass

Although glassmaking was practiced in Venice from the 10th century on, the earliest known Venetian glassware dates from the 15th century. Concentrated on the island of Murano, the Venetian industry dominated the European market until 1700. The major contribution of the Venetians was the development of a highly refined, hard-soda glass of great ductility. Colorless and highly transparent, the glass resembled rock crystal and was known as cristallo. The first cristallo wares were simple forms, often …

…s considered the finest glass of the 18th century. English table glass dominated the European and colonial markets and became a model for Continental production. English innovations of the mid-18th century were glasses with air or opaque-enamel twists encased in the stems. Among the most prestigious forms of the period was the English cut-glass chandelier. Lead glass, especially suited to cutting, reached its full potential in the neoclassical wares of the Anglo-Irish period (1780-1830).