Welcome to the Glass Age

29 Shaping glass hollowware History is full of milestones, turning points where advances in glass stimulated change: Over 3000 years ago, exquisite Egyptian glass bottles were made for expensive perfumes by trailing molten glass around a solid core; just before BC became AD, glass-blowing was developed, probably in regions that now lie in Syria, and quickly spread throughout the Roman world. Before long, this approach was creating intricate and collectable objects. Surface decoration could be added perhaps using a rotating wheel and abrasive on a foot-operated lathe. 4 th century Romans at the pinnacle of their glass-making Figure 2.2. Glass blower at work, shaping a blown sphere before ‘cracking off’. Source: Pixabay.