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Glass is a material that can be seen everywhere in our daily life, so sparse that people often ignore its beauty. However, glass was historically one of the most expensive materials and, like gold, silver, and precious stones, was an important trade commodity.
On September 10, Changsha Museum will launch the "Song of Sand and Fire - Silk Road Glass Culture Exhibition", starting from the birth of glass, based on 325 sets of ancient glass from the Collection of the Silk Road Art Museum in Hirayama, Japan, combined with 55 sets of glassware excavated in China, to jointly present the colorful glass world along the ancient Silk Road, reflecting the exchange, collision and integration of Eastern and Western civilizations.
The large collar necklace of usek, which was loved by the nobles of ancient Egypt, symbolized differences in social status, wealth and status. 16th-13th centuries BC, North America, Sobotamia.
Glass is one of the oldest man-made materials invented by mankind with the birth of civilization. The earliest archaeologically found glasswork was unearthed at the site of Tell Judeideh in syria's Amuq Plain, dating from about the early 3rd millennium BC. Since the Bronze Age, the ancient exchanges between Eastern and Western civilizations have always shone with the brilliance of glass, Eurasia and North Africa have found a large number of glass remains from various periods, from which you can glimpse the spread, evolution, exchange and integration of a series of elements such as science and technology, material technology, multilateral trade, ideological culture, artistic aesthetics and other elements between ancient multi-civilizations.
Cast beaded necklace, Mycenaean, 14th-13th centuries BC
A series of early 2,000 BC sites in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China, from northwest to southeast, have unearthed the earliest batch of artificial silicate products in China, all of which are Feons materials. From the late Spring and Autumn period about 2500 years ago, until the modern era, glass beads, glassware and glass crafts have traveled from land and sea to the Central Plains. After local digestion and reconstruction according to the aesthetics and needs of the East, ancient Chinese glass craftsmen created such as the Warring States Eye Pattern Glass Beads (commonly known as Dragonfly Eyes), Zhan Han Lead Barium Glass, Sui and Tang Lead Glass, Song and Yuan Potash Glass and Qing Dynasty Official Glass, forming a unique oriental glass craft system and artistic taste, which in turn affected the Korean Peninsula and Japan, which is undoubtedly a typical example of the exchange, collision, absorption and integration of Eastern and Western civilizations.
Cast pattern necklace, Mycenaean, 14th-13th centuries BC
Early glass was mostly dark blue or sky blue and opaque, which was made to imitate the color of gemstones such as lapis lazuli and turquoise, which was related to the spiritual belief of the people at that time that these two precious stones had some special power.
Long-necked pointed bottom bottle, representative of early coiled glass. These vessels are mainly used to hold expensive sesame oils, spices and cosmetics. 15th century BC, North America Sobotamia.
The original glassware was limited by production technology, and were very small, mostly made by the core method, and looked somewhat similar to lollipops. This technique was not only time-consuming but also required superb skill at the time, and only a small number of people mastered it. Although the glass process in the same period also has winding method, mold casting method, etc., the production scale is relatively small, the production difficulty is also large, the output is low, and the glass has become an extremely precious thing.
The glass pendant of the Star of Ishtar, the god of love and war, is associated with the goddess Ishtar in West Asian mythology. Ishtar had an important place in the worship and ideology of Mesopotamia and was one of the star gods. 14th-13th century BC, North America, Sobotamia.
China's glass products appeared relatively late. The raw materials and firing process of the Feons beads excavated from the Western Zhou tombs are similar to glass, but the sand particles inside have not yet been completely melted, which can be regarded as the predecessor of glass products. The real glass first appeared in the late Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the Warring States period in the mainland, and it has a history of 2500 years.
Glass Bi, Warring States (475 BC – 221 BC), Changsha Museum Collection. Typical imitation jade glassware. This kind of glass bi is concentrated in hunan region, especially in changsha Chu tomb, using the mold casting method, belongs to the local lead barium glass.
Glass has historically been one of the most expensive materials, which is the opposite of what many of us now think of as glass as the most common cheap common material. Glass has gone through a long period of two or three thousand years since its inception, until around the 1st century BC, after the invention of the blowing method during the Roman Empire, it was gradually transformed into a material for daily necessities. Prior to this, glass, with its beautiful colors and very small quantities, had always been a luxury that only a few upper-class people could enjoy.
Petal-patterned glass, 5th–4th century BC (Achaemenid dynasty), West Asia. Made using the finest colorless glass and mold casting, the cup is shaped from silver and bronze from this period, and is generally used for banquets, ceremonies and wine offering ceremonies, and was considered a luxury in ancient times.
There are molding, overhang embossing method, thousand flowers process and other rise, "mosaic" continues to develop, glass products are more and more rich in ornamentation, glass technology to mature, in the Roman Empire was widely used and widely spread to the outside. Among them, the mosaic glass is dazzling and dazzling, and is commonly used in religious halls and palace bathrooms. The thousand-flower glass was very valuable in ancient Greece and Rome, and it was also a sign that the glass manufacturing industry of the Roman Empire was blooming.
Fireworks-patterned Thousand Flowers Glass Bowl, 1st century BC – 1st century AD (Roman Empire), Eastern Mediterranean region
The Gold Ribbon Glass Bottle is a particularly ornate early Roman glass perfume bottle that is regarded as the pinnacle of ancient glassmaking technology that was highly developed in the Mediterranean region after ancient Greece. The production process involves gold sandwiching, mold blowing and special coloring. Gold-banded glass was undoubtedly a luxury that only the nobility could possess at that time. But with the popularity of glassblowing, they were soon replaced by transparent glassware that was freely blown.
Gold striped glass bottle, 1st century BC – 1st century AD (Roman Empire), Italy
In the history of the mainland, glassware imported from the West during the Wei and Jin Dynasties was one of the treasures of the "Doufu" of the shi clan, and a considerable part of it came from the Iranian plateau, which was during the Sassanid Dynasty (most of West Asia). Sassanid glassware is primitive in shape and likes to be decorated with continuous circles. The Sassanid round polished glassware excavated from the tombs of the Six Dynasties of the Mainland are rare and rare. Until the Ming Dynasty, the value of fine glassware was still higher than that of gold.
Concave round ground glass bowl, 5th-7th century AD (Sassanid Dynasty), Iran
Because glassware is gorgeous and expensive, it has historically been an important trade commodity like gold, silver, and precious stones. Glass was one of the main trade products imported into China from the West, and glass technology was gradually introduced to China from west to east.
At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period, glass beads native to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea were introduced to the Central Plains along the Central Asian region, and brought the dragonfly eye making technology, which became the best example of the integration of ancient trade and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. At the same time, it also promoted the development of the local glass manufacturing industry, and some typical Chinese-style glass products were produced, among which imitation jade glass bi, sword ornaments and seals were the most distinctive. These glassworks were excavated relatively intensively in the tombs of the late Warring States period centered on Changsha.
Dragonfly Eye Glass Beads, Warring States (475 BC – 221 BC), Changsha Museum Collection
With the opening of the Western Regions and the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, the civilizations of the East and the West had more direct contact. The innovative development of glassblowing technology has promoted the world pandemic of glass manufacturing, which not only prevailed in the Roman Empire, but also spread to all parts of West Asia, and spread to China and Japan through the maritime and overland Silk Road, with far-reaching influence.
Glass bottle with handle, 3rd-5th century AD (Roman Empire), Eastern Mediterranean region. The glassware shape common in ancient Greece and Rome, which was freely blown, was popular on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and had a profound influence on Sassanid Persian silver pots and continental porcelain.
By the Tang Dynasty, polished glassware could be seen on murals and paintings of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, either Sassanid glass or early Islamic glass with Azatian style. These exotic glassware often contained flowers, either in the hands of bodhisattvas or before the Buddha. During the Song and Liao dynasties, Islamic glass bottles were imported into China and became noble objects and Buddhist temple treasures. Among them, many Islamic belt glass bottles and silver pots have been excavated from the tombs of the Liao Dynasty nobles. Through China, the glass bottle was transmitted to Japan and treasured in Shosoin Temple. The glass bottle with a handle is a witness to the fusion of civilizations.
Polished glass, 6th-7th century AD, Iran
Free blowing of glass bottles with handles, 9th-10th century AD, Iran
East-West trade and cultural exchanges on the Silk Road promoted the collision and interaction of Eastern and Western cultures. As a direct witness to the exchange of civilizations between the East and the West, glass has added brilliant colors to the Silk Road, and also proved that "civilization is colorful because of exchanges, and civilizations are enriched by mutual learning."
The exhibition will run until December 11.
(This article is based on changsha museum, surging news past reports and other materials)
Editor-in-charge: Xu Minghui
Proofreader: Luan Meng