Post: Post Reply: Translucent Red Chinese Glass by Beadman

Original Message: Translucent Red Chinese Glass

Peter has promoted the idea that the Chinese produced a translucent red glass long before it was available from Europe, and that this was a copper-red glass (whereas European copper-red glass is the opaque material we all know well throughout Venetian bead production from their early production times, commonly called "brick-red," or "carmine red" when well modulated.
The translucent Chinese glass has a dusky tone. Since it is not opaque, it's difficult to compare it to brick-red glass, or to characterize its color as a "dull red" or "bright red", as one can do with European copper reds and selenium/cadmium reds (the latter being almost stridently bright).
How the Chinese created or acquired the bright red glass seen in the 20th C. Boshan beads is a mystery to me. I haven't had it analyzed, so I don't know what the colorant may be. It is easiest to speculate that this is imported Venetian glass. However it is an unpopular idea to suggest the Chinese imported European glasses—in spite of the fact that it can be safely concluded that their avventurina beads (and other artifacts) were made with Venetian glass. The Chinese resist such suggestions, and many people who are not informed about glass also tend to reject the suggestion. However, I strongly recommend it as a practical idea. And, it is well known that Venice exported specialty glasses abroad, in the form of "ingots" for the use of foreign industries.
That no translucent red glass was produced in Europe from an early time is a mistake! There are several examples of translucent red glass in the stained glass windows of several Medieval Catholic cathedrals. However, I don't doubt this glass was rare, and that perhaps few glassmakers knew how to produce it.
In any event, though I think these issues are interesting and important, glass chemistry is not really my area. Plus, I have no facility for having analyses performed. This is something James Lankton is more hands-on with—and I'm glad someone is pursuing it.
From Annapolis, MD, this morning.
Jamey
Copyright 2024
All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users

Original Message: Translucent Red Chinese Glass
Peter has promoted the idea that the Chinese produced a translucent red glass long before it was available from Europe, and that this was a copper-red glass (whereas European copper-red glass is the opaque material we all know well throughout Venetian bead production from their early production times, commonly called "brick-red," or "carmine red" when well modulated. The translucent Chinese glass has a dusky tone. Since it is not opaque, it's difficult to compare it to brick-red glass, or to characterize its color as a "dull red" or "bright red", as one can do with European copper reds and selenium/cadmium reds (the latter being almost stridently bright). How the Chinese created or acquired the bright red glass seen in the 20th C. Boshan beads is a mystery to me. I haven't had it analyzed, so I don't know what the colorant may be. It is easiest to speculate that this is imported Venetian glass. However it is an unpopular idea to suggest the Chinese imported European glasses—in spite of the fact that it can be safely concluded that their avventurina beads (and other artifacts) were made with Venetian glass. The Chinese resist such suggestions, and many people who are not informed about glass also tend to reject the suggestion. However, I strongly recommend it as a practical idea. And, it is well known that Venice exported specialty glasses abroad, in the form of "ingots" for the use of foreign industries. That no translucent red glass was produced in Europe from an early time is a mistake! There are several examples of translucent red glass in the stained glass windows of several Medieval Catholic cathedrals. However, I don't doubt this glass was rare, and that perhaps few glassmakers knew how to produce it. In any event, though I think these issues are interesting and important, glass chemistry is not really my area. Plus, I have no facility for having analyses performed. This is something James Lankton is more hands-on with—and I'm glad someone is pursuing it. From Annapolis, MD, this morning. Jamey Copyright 2024 All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users

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