Welcome to the Glass Age

154 Glass and the museum Being not-for-profit multidisciplinary institutions open to people and embedded in the community, museums can play a strategic role in enhancing the knowledge of glass among citizens. At the beginning of its production, more than 3500 years ago, glass was a valuable and treasured commodity, for the use of pharaohs and kings (Figure 10.1). Over the centuries, technological developments such as the discovery of glass blowing, combined with its invaluable properties (chemical inertness, impermeability, transparency), turned glass into one of the most exploited and versatile materials created by humankind (Figures 10.2, 10.3, 10.4). Glass museums contribute to the preservation of glass heritage by means of acquisition, conservation, and protection of glass objects that people and communities recognize as deserving consideration and enhancement for present and future generations. Not only dedicated organizations, but a number of institutions host glass collections of different origins and Figure 10.1. Two-handled cosmetic jar with wide neck, core-formed. The body and the handles are of opaque dark-blue glass, the chevron decorations are in opaque white, yellow, and turquoise-blue glass. Height: 8.70 cm. Egypt, 18 th Dynasty, ca 1390 BC-ca 1352 BC. Source: British Museum , museum number EA4741. ©The Trustees of the British Museum. Image released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.