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EMPEROR NERO AND TWO SMALL GLASS CUPS



Glass has very unique and enigmatic tale to offer to the modern society. People of old used obsidian – a natural black volcanic glass for arrowheads, knives, ornaments, and as tools. However, there was a man so enchanted by its beauty, who was willing to pay a great sum of money to have it.

In 37-68 A.D., this was the time of extravagance and excessive indulgence, a luxury-loving Emperor of Ancient Rome named Nero was so delighted by the beauty of these sparkling brightness that he spent 6,000 sesterces for only two small cups. That is about $2,500 on today’s currency!

Who can deny the glistening luster of glass, as well as its many, many usages! Glass comes from rather peculiar properties, you see its base is pure silica sand. Now, what is silica sand? It is composed of the mineral quartz, which is a compound of the elements silicon and oxygen. To make it even better, soda ash and lime or potash and lime are added to the sand. These mixture act as fluxing agents or in other term, they cause the materials to melt at temperatures of about 2600 degrees Fahrenheit.

To attain these great colors of glass we see today – not just black as the obsidian but with rainbow colors including, here are some processes and fluxing agents used to achieve special purposes:

The soda and potash lower the point of melting. Lime steadies and toughens the glass. By adding other substances, glass can be modified for special usages. Lead gives glassware its vibrant, twinkling beauty. Borax retains glass from mounting and cracking, so that it can be placed over a direct flame without infringement. Glass naturally has a greenish cast because of the iron existing in all sand.

Clear glass has been decolorized by totaling selenium (a non-metallic element somewhat like sulfur). The selenium gives glass a red tint that stabilities out the green. Other colors can be gained by adding different chemical oxides to the constituents. Cobalt is added in for blue color, gold for ruby, manganese for purple, chromium or iron for green, and uranium for yellow. These processes change the appearance of glass that we widely use today.

Published: January 17, 2019


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