In daily life, glass is a very common material, and it has a wide range of applications in all aspects, but few people understand the history of glass, nor do they know that the ancients began to use glass as early as 4,000 years ago. It is worth mentioning that the Corning Museum of Glass has a mysterious glass collection, and what exactly is still a mystery... What's going on here? The following Xiaobian will reveal the secret to you.
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Corning Museum of Glass is the world's largest glass-themed museum, located in Corning, New York, United States, and is part of Corning, the world's largest glassmaking company. In 1951, it was corning's centenary "birthday", so people built the Corning Museum, on the one hand, to show Corning's great contribution to the glass field, on the other hand, to show the development history of glass in all aspects, as well as the future development direction, so that people have a new understanding and understanding of glass, which is both familiar and unfamiliar materials.
Today, the Corning Museum is still evolving, and the collection of various types of glass artifacts is also countless, ranging from ancient glass jewelry to modern glass technology. Experts said that the oldest glass in the museum dates back more than 2,000 years and is a glass window made by the ancient Romans, although the transparency is far less than that of today's glass, but at that time it could also be regarded as a kind of "high technology". In addition, there is a glass product in the museum that is considered to be the "treasure of the town hall", and experts have debated its role endlessly, and there is still no conclusion.
This glasswork is called a "cup cage", or a "lantern", which also indicates its two identities, namely "cup" or "lamp". This glasswork is exquisitely made, experts have shown that it has a history of more than 1800 years, its blank material is a piece of stained glass, and the purity is so high that experts suspect that it is a "cross-over object". After in-depth research, experts speculate that the ancients were made by grinding, because the glass itself is very brittle, not suitable for carving, the finished product is about 8.6 cm high, about 5.8 cm in diameter, only 3 mm thick, and its exterior has a hollow decoration, and the cup wall is only connected by a very fine bridge, reflecting the superb skills of ancient craftsmen, even if it is placed in the present is amazing.
As mentioned above, this glasswork has two names, some people call it "cup cage", indicating that these people think it is a cup to drink water. If you look at it single-dimensionally, it is indeed more like a cup, but there are two aspects that do not make sense. First, the appearance of this glass product, although exquisite, is very impractical, because the external carving is very fragile, if it is taken as a water cup, it is easy to break it if you are not careful; second, there is a ring of bronze hoops on its outer edge, similar shapes have never been seen on the water cup, if it is a water cup, it will be superfluous, so the bronze hoop must have other effects.
Since the "cup cage" is controversial, what about the "lantern"? Some experts said that this glass product was an oil lamp used by the aristocratic class at that time, and put fuel in the cup to light and hang in the house. Such an explanation cannot be said to be unreasonable, so it has received strong support from some people, but there are also some places where it does not make sense. For example, when the fuel is burned, the temperature is three or four hundred degrees, and modern ordinary glass may not be able to withstand it, let alone the glass of a thousand years ago? Secondly, if it is an oil lamp, long-term use will also leave traces of carbon ash, but in fact, it does not have any traces of combustion on the surface and inside.
In addition to the above two speculations, some experts believe that it is an ornament, without any substantive role, it is neither used to hold water, nor is it used to light lamps, but quietly placed somewhere for decoration, reflecting an artistic value, representing a spiritual pursuit of the ancient Romans, rather than material enjoyment.
Today, the glasswork remains an unsolved mystery and is still in the Corning Museum. Xiaobian also hopes that in the near future, experts can discover more glass artifacts and solve the mystery of the role of this glass product for us, and there may be more surprising discoveries at that time... Let us also have an earth-shaking understanding of the technical ability of the ancient ancestors.
Resources:
"History of Glassware" by An Jiayao, Publisher: Social Science Literature Press
Wenlan Hairun Studio Editor-in-Chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written by: Special History Writer: Liu Lijiang's