A Touch of Glass PopularScience A Touch of Glass SUKANYA DATTA NATIONAL BOOK TRUST, INDIA ISBN 978-81-237-9071-8 First ePrint Edition 2020 © Sukanya Datta Rs:185.00 ePrint by Ornate Techno Services Pvt Ltd Published by the Director, National Book Trust, India Nehru Bhawan, 5 Institutional Area, Phase-II Vasant Kunj, New Delhi - 110070 Website: www.nbtindia.gov.in This book is dedicated with love to the memory of Debjani Ghosh (Bubul didi) and to Sanjoy Ghosh (Sanjoyda) for being my Go-To couple foreverything for as long as I canremember. Contents Acknowledgement i Preface x x 1. Fact and Fairytale i1 2. First Look 5 3. Natural Glass 9 4. Making Glass 16 5. Techniques and Tools ofTrade 43 6. Glass Industry in the Ancient 69 World 118 7. Glass Industry in Ancient India 128 8. Glass Industry of Modern India 147 9. Gallery of ArtGlass 167 10. Architectural Wonders in Glass 187 11. Fun Fact and Futuristic Firsts 207 12. Idioms Inspired by Glass SelectBibliography 221 Index 225 Acknowledgement My association with the National Book Trust (NBT) goes back almost two decades and I have always first approached NBT with any new manuscript of mine; rarely have I been refused. For this privilege I thank the Director, NBT with all my heart. Heartfelt thanks are also due to Mrs. Kanchan Wanchoo Sharma then at the Editorial Department of NBT. Her very positive feedback to my idea gave me the encouragement to go forward with the manuscript. My current Editor Ms. Surekha Sachdeva who took over from Kanchan has been most meticulous in editing and deserves my thanks for all her efforts. The Art section at NBT has, as always, far exceeded my expectations in designing the cover and the layout. To them all and in particular to Mr Samaresh Chatterjee, my deepest thanks. A few of my colleagues at the CSIR Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata read the manuscript and were kind enough to point out inconsistencies and inaccuracies. In particular, I wish to thank Dr. Anoop Kumar Mukhopadhyay and Dr. Atiar Rahman Molla for the interest they took. I also wish to thank Dr Shiladitya (Miku) Sinha who generously shared with me his entire album on Shantiniketan. The photograph of the Upasana Griha has been taken by him. No words of thanks are enough to express my debt to my brother-in-law Mr. Arup Ray (FRCS), who photographed the glass workers of Murano, Venice, just so that I could use the photographs in my book. And always, my sister Dr. Sutapa Ray in faraway UK served as my rock and sounding board. AUTHOR Preface Translocation from one city to another, i.e., from one way of life to another is never easy; particularly not when the move is triggered by situations beyond one’s control. For me too relocating to hometown Kolkata after over two decades was not an easy task. As cities, New Delhi and Kolkata march to different drummers; the pulse beats differ. The idioms in which these cities speak are different too. I struggled to adjust. I needed an escape. The Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata, which carries out pioneering work in the field of glass and ceramics presented a terrific escape route. The study of glass seemed to me a world as fascinating and as mysterious as any fairytale where imagination runs riot or the deepest reaches of science where facts that exist are often stranger than fiction. The more I read; the deeper I entered the realm of glass ,the more enamoured I became. Glass was the first material to be mined; primitive man sent out mining parties to look for Obsidian...a volcanic proto-glass of sorts. Warriors fashioned spearheads and arrowheads out of Obsidian. Ancient Indian glass beads and bangles decorated the beauties of that age. Glass bottles once held the tears of the mourners in ancient Persia and Egypt. The pyramids housed the glass jewellery once worn by royalty. The bones of the owners are dust now but the beads and bottles still breathe their tales. The glass slipper of Cinderella is not just a tale; modern brides have wed wearing wedding dresses and accessories made of glass. And in 2016, Taiwan built a glass church shaped like a blue, high- heeled slipper. xi A TOUCH OF GLASS Glass is embedded in human life. There is archaeological evidence that glass was first made in Eastern Mesopotamia and Egypt around 3500 BC. Clay tablets inscribed with formulae for making glass have been excavated and are on display in museums. Interestingly, these crude formulae still work although glassmaking is now an extremely sophisticated science. When glass was newly introduced, it commanded prices so high that only the wealthy could afford to buy glass objects. In time, glass became so easily available that at least one Roman Emperor refused to use glass because it was too common for royalty. The Lucurgus Cup is ancient luxury glass cup that changes colours depending on the angle of light: it appears jade green when lit from the front but red when lit from behind. Recent studies have been shown that it contains nanoparticles of silver and gold. So did the 4th century Romans know about Nanotechnology? The history of glassmaking is a story full of tales of serendipitous discoveries, globalization of skills as artisans fled wars, failed attempts to maintain monopoly, royal patronage, lifelong experimentations by mavericks; even stories of deceit and betrayed trust. It is an unbroken lineage with many meandering streams of evolution. As with all flows, some streams disappeared in the sands of time. Some sorts of glass are no longer made today. The art is lost. However, there are modern types of glass that are being made with custom-made characteristics to suit the needs of thenew century. The story of the Glass Industry in modern India is an inspirational one. It is the story of social inclusivity in action. Few know that first glass factory; The Paisa Fund Glass Works, came up at Talegaon near Pune, thanks to the contribution of just one paisa each from members of the general public. Today, India exports glass to countries such as USA, China, Brazil and Germany. I hope that the readers enjoy discovering the many facets of Glass, as much as I have enjoyed writing about them. SUKANYADATTA 1 FACT AND FAIRYTALE We hardly ever leave home without one last fleeting glance at the looking glass to see if we are looking our best or not. However, perhaps our first introduction to glass had happened when we were too young to care about dressing to impress. It probably happened when we drank milk out of a glass bottle and later, when we clamoured to hear a fairytale. Fairy tales are rich in references to glass. The story of Cinderella is that of a young girl wearing pretty glass slippers that fit nobody else but her. The glass slipper helps the lovelorn Prince to track her down. This story is a universal favourite; and it has glass at its core! Then there is a story about the beautiful Princess whose father decreed that to win her hand, the suitor must climb a glass mountain. So, the pretty maiden sat atop a glass mountain with three golden apples in her lap. Many came to try their luck but failed; the glass slope proved too slippery for human feet! The final contestant trotted up the glass mountain; each time on a different horse and wearing a suit of armour made of a different metal. On the first two days wearing armours of copper and silver respectively, he deliberately stopped short of the summit. He was rewarded with a golden apple every day for his endeavours. On the third day he galloped to the peak of the glass mountain wearing armour made of gold and earned the last golden apple... and after some minor twists in the tale; the hand of the Princess too. In Hans Christian Anderson’s story, The Snow Queen, Kai a little boy and Gerda, a little girl overcome many challenges and 2 A TOUCH OF GLASS finally, love triumphs. The adventure begins when Kai gets a tiny sliver of Devil glass in his eye. This glass splinter comes from a magic mirror that has the power to distort the appearance of things reflected in it. So his vision is corrupted. Then, Kai falls into the clutches of the Snow Queen who freezes his emotions. Gerda searches for him. She bursts into tears when she finally finds him. Her warm tears melt his icy heart. His tears wash away the tiny shard of the magic mirror lodged in his eye and all is well. And who can forget the ‘Talking Glass’ that the wicked stepmother in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs used to find out who was the Fairest in the realm? Interestingly, when she conspires and tricks Snow White into eating the poisoned apple, Snow White is interred in a glass casket. Maybe the transparency of glass tempted Fate to send the Prince her way and become bewitched by her beauty, even as she lay in the casket, presumed dead. It is amusing that Mike Elgan, a Silicon Valley-based writer, columnist and blogger who writes on cutting-edge technology should refer to the wicked stepmother’s magic mirror in contemporary and IT-related language. He pens in his blog that perhaps the “...magic-mirror gadget was an augmented-reality display with face recognition and a voice-controlled artificial intelligence virtual assistant that was capable of querying remote databases of females ranked by fairness...” And no, it is not a politically correct description of the wicked Queen’s magic mirror but a sign of things to come.