Czech glass is one of the most beautiful in the world

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Glass is one of the oldest materials that has been known to man for almost five thousand years. In the Czech Republic, as early as the beginning of the 12th century, glassmaking began to develop from the available very high-quality sands. Presumably, the masters received their first skills from the Venetians, who were skilled in this matter, but quickly overtook their teachers. Czech glass began to disperse throughout Europe.

Raw materials

Glass making requires the purest sand. There was enough of it in the Czech Republic. Potash is needed. This was more difficult. For its production, it was necessary to turn the wood into the whitest ash. In addition to potash, firewood was needed for melting glass. And they needed a lot, so when the whole forest was cut down around the furnaces, which were called guta, the glassmakers moved with the furnace to another place. And because the masters were constantly moving, their settlements were called either Guta, or New Guta, or something else, but the toponym "Guta" was almost always present and has been preserved in the names to this day. Glass melting was a family affair and kept secret. Some secrets of cookingwith which Czech glass is surrounded have survived to this day.

Production

Initially, glass was brewed in low ovens (guts), in which open clay pots were placed. The constituent parts - sand, potash - were poured into them and the furnace was heated to the highest temperatures, over 1000 ° C. The ovens did not last long and had to be replaced frequently.

In modern production, hardened welded glass is first softened and a viscous fiery mass is obtained. The glassblower takes a special hollow metal tube. So that it does not heat up and can be held in hands, it is lined with one-third wood, and the part that touches the glass blower's mouth is made of brass.

He lowers its tip into molten glass. Constantly twisting it, he picks up a drop of the required size and shape. With special scissors, he cuts it off from the total mass, then places it in a wet wooden form and, exhaling into a tube, gives the drop of hot glass the required appearance with walls of a certain thickness. But artistic products can be blown without a mold. It's just that the master knows the properties of the material very well, and can only create works of art by blowing. So, in general terms, we told how Czech glass is made.

Sanding and polishing

But it doesn't end there. The finished chilled product falls into the hands of grinders. A very thin layer of glass is removed with special discs, and the shape and thickness of the glass are specified. After that comes the quality check. Then a brilliant productgoes to carvers and engravers who apply complex ornaments and monograms. Often after that, some details are gilded and the quality is checked again. Finally comes the final stage - polishing with special pastes and the last quality control. Thus, Czech glass was ready for sale. Its assortment is extremely diverse, and we will describe it below.

What is Bohemian glass

This is a special Czech glass. Bohemia is an area that occupies almost half of the Czech Republic, where they began to cook glass with the addition of lead oxide. This happened more than three hundred years ago, in the second half of the 17th century. Lead gave the products heaviness, special transparency, the play of light with all the colors of the rainbow, sonority. These durable and heavy products gradually, especially in the East, replaced the fragile and thin products of Venetian glassblowers. To this day, the best Czech crystal is produced in Bohemia. Toys, vases, glasses, chandeliers are made from it, which are polished by hand. And all products have a long crystal ringing.

Czech stained glass

The color of glass is given by oxides of various metals. If cob alt is added during the cooking process, then the result will be a saturated blue color like sapphire, if gold - then a golden ruby, if copper - then a copper ruby. These two red colors differ in their shades, naturally, with gold the look is nobler. Various shades of green are obtained by adding iron, uranium and chromium, and silicon gives pink. Manganese gives noble brown tones.

Very often such glass is used formaking stained glass windows.

Often two colors are used in the production process. First, transparent glass is collected on the tube, then it is lowered into colored glass, which completely covers the original workpiece. After blowing, they are cut in such a way that part of the colored glass is removed and an intricate transparent pattern is formed on a colored background. Vases are often decorated in this way.

Vases - a special conversation

In order not to be unfounded, we will give examples of Czech colored cast glass. These vases are all handmade by experienced craftsmen without the use of molds. Each of them is a single unique work.

Pink with transparent base is for flowers. The second, cob alt, is a candy bowl.

Now you can see all the exclusivity of such a material as Czech glass, vases from which are so different.

Czech jewelry

Who was in the Czech Republic will never return without the world-famous jewelry "Yabloneks" or "Bohemia style". This glass is often fused with gold, silver, copper or bronze.

Especially good are sets with necklaces and earrings, as well as just beads. Czech glass is a timeless piece of jewelry that is not afraid of, for example, pearls, perspiration or accidentally spilled vegetable oil. In addition, the choice of bead sizes is huge - from the largest and most massive tobeaded and graceful. All jewelry is handmade, and therefore it is the author's.

In conclusion, it should be said that the Czech Republic is nearby, and they will understand us in Russian, and if you work hard, you can understand some of your native Slavic speech yourself.