}`HPLASErJ€ }.mt 10 .hm 3 .h1Grayson Enterprises Ltd. One time rights .h2Page #. Copyright 1991 .h3 1,168 words .LS2   GATHERING GORGEOUS GLASS   (INCLUDING THE THIRTEEN COMMANDMENTS AND 154 ABCs) Written and photographed by June Grayson    God must love glass - the world has so much of it. And we   are not apt to run out of glass anytime soon. Glass is made of   sand and ashes. Sand is just the fine debris of what was first   rock. The most common element in rock is silica, also called   silicon dioxide, a compound of two of the most abundant elements   in the universe - silicon and oxygen. Silica forms 59% of the   earth's crust and more than 95% of the earth's rock, more than   enough to supply the world's glass factories for the foreseeable   future.  Nature probably made the first glass when a bolt of lightning melted the sand on a deserted seashore. Reports from Kuwait   today say that the heat from the burning oil wells has been high   π03 Šenough to melt some desert sand into glass. Intentional glass making started in prehistory, so no one   can really say who invented it or where. Archeologists have   dated stone beads covered with a blue glass glaze from 4000 B.C.   in Egypt. Small glass vessels and decorative objects dating   from 1500 B.C. have been found throughout the eastern   Mediterranian. Glass artisans in the Roman Empire around the   time of Christ knew how to stain, blow, and engrave glass.   Only the rich could afford that glass - the Egyptian pharaohs,   Roman Caesars, and Chinese Emperors.  During the thousand year span of the Medieval Dark Ages,   after the Barbarians overran the Roman Empire, glass production   survived in small geographical areas, such as the island of   Murano, the home of the famous Venetian glass. Glass production   expanded throughout Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.   Glass workers became more mobile. World trade began to flourish.   The expanding merchant class had money to spend.  The first English settlement in the United States, Jamestown   in 1607, had a small glass factory, but it disappeared along with   the entire colony in a few years. Many small glass factories   started up in the American colonies during the 1700s. It was the   Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, however,   that brought about mass production and the rise of the middle   class making glass ownership possible for everyone. The   π0- Šfortuitous discovery of natural gas, a cheap new energy source to   fire the glass furnaces, led to the proliferation of glass   factories throughout the Ohio river valley around 1900. Glass products are now so plentiful that people take them   for granted. But not glass collectors. They are the ones who  marvel at the miraculous transformation by fire of these common   elements into thousands of delightful forms and colors - an   embarrassment of riches.  That is why glass collectors tend to be specialists. You   can't collect everything - where would you put it? A collection   starts innocently enough. You receive a gift of glass. Or you   inherit a family keepsake. Or a piece of glass just speaks to   you as you walk through a department store or antique mall. Some people collect by color alone. In fact, one woman  wrote a book about her 500-piece collection of red glass. Others   collect according to the type of glass and how it is made. Is it   blown glass, blown and molded glass, pressed glass, or cut glass?  You can collect by historical period: Victorian glass or   Depression glass. You can collect by objects: a cruet collection   alone can include hundred of kinds and colors of glass. You can   collect by kind of glass - cranberry, Vaseline, opalescent,   chocolate, or crackle glass. You can limit your collection to   one glass company or to one glass artist. There are so many   divisions within the broad field of glass collecting that there   π0- Šis room for every taste and pocketbook.  This is a good time to start a glass collection because   so many references books on glass are available. Glass   researchers are even saving and publishing the catalogs of glass   companies from years past to make attribution easier. Unfortunately, everything that looks like old glass is not   always old by any means. Some 100 year old glass molds are still   being used today to make glass. Reproductions are not fakes, at   least not originally. If museum gift catalogs did not offer   reproductions of old glass, today's collectors would never have a   chance to enjoy some of the greatest glories of historical glass   art. Ideally, such glass carries identifying marks and dates.   Without such information, such glass may later escape into the   marketplace and either innocently or intentionally be sold as the   old and original glass.  More disturbing to the glass collector, however, is the   importation of unmarked reproductions of old glass made in Asia   sold to the new or unknowing collector as the real thing by   unscrupulous dealers. It is also fairly easy to engrave a fake   signature on a piece of unmarked glass to seduce the unwary.  Writers and editors of antique reference books and   magazines do their readers an important service by continuously   alerting them to possible fakes coming on the market. Gene   Florence in his books and articles on Depression glass is very   π0- Šhelpful to his readers about this. Here are thirteen commandments for glass collectors: 1. Buy what you like. If you fall in love with a piece of   cranberry glass, go for it. 2. Start small. Then, if you make a mistake (as we all do),   the lesson will be affordable.  3. Deal with reputable antique dealers for expensive   pieces. Have the dealer put the description in writing and   warrantee your purchase. Then, if you buy something as Victorian   art glass and you find it in the Fenton glass catalog of 1975,   you can demand your money back.  4. Do research. Go to the library and take out every book   on your subject. Buy the antique reference books on your type of   glass. Subscribe to a glass publication. Read everything you   can about glass. 5. Join a specialized glass collectors' society. There are   collector clubs now for lovers of every type of glass or glass   manufacturer: carnival glass, Cambridge glass, Fenton glass, for  example.  6. Talk to every one you meet who knows more than you do.   Most antique dealers love their work and the things they sell.   They will be glad to share their knowledge and maybe even let you   see and handle the kind of glass you collect, even if you cannot   afford to buy it all in the beginning.  π0-  Š 7. Buy one great piece rather than several cheaper pieces.  8. Don't buy damaged glass. It may be impossible to resell   if you ever have to liquidate your collection.  9. Attend specialized glass shows, sales, and club   conventions to learn, if not to buy.  10. Stalk antique malls, flea markets, garage sales, church   rummage sales, and thrift shops for that 10-cent lucky find.   1l. Don't buy for investment. That is what stocks are for. 12. Share. Antique glass items make wonderful birthday and   wedding gifts. Pass them down to your grandchildren. 13. Above all, enjoy! Arrange your collection where you and   your friends can see it. Use your glass for holiday meals and   decorations. ##### Š 