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So, we have the ancients working and discovering glass about thirty-five hundred years ago,
four thousand years ago. And then, about two thousand years ago, glass underwent a further
transformation. There was now glass blowing and the peoples who had been doing the glasswork
in the Mediterranean area got dispersed at the point at which the Romans made their conquests
of the Middle East. They imported glass artisans from Mesopotamia, from Canaan, and brought
them to Europe. And, that gave rise to the Venetian glass industry which is where most
of the techniques that modern glasswork come from. The Venetians perfected the making of
image chips, known as Murrini. Or, otherwise known, if they are floral, as Millefiori.
And, they did cane work. They did blowing and then, Venetian goblets. And, leading directly
to what we have today which is a very thriving and burgeoning glass bead making industry.
A cottage industry here in the United States. This cottage industry caught back on in Europe
after several hundred years of dis-use and decay. But, about a hundred and fifty years
ago, certain Italians brought back the techniques that their ancestors had developed. And, that
again had been developed earlier on still in Mesopotamia. And so, this more recent development
from about 1850 to 1910, 1920 eventually the European methods made their way over to U.S.
shores. Some of the workers who were in Italy were sworn to secrecy and there had been a
tradition of secrecy. Those who revealed glass secrets, up to about 1600, were eligible for
the death penalty. That is how guarded and cherished glass secrets were in the Old World.
This tendency of secrecy gradually was chipped away at, though, and in the 1950s, 1960s with
the studio glass movement in the United States artists began freely collaborating and sharing.
At the same time, the technologies improved for the glass production that a person no
longer required a full fledged production factory or large shop. But, that the tools
techniques, in particular, the torches and the kilns shrunk in size and so an everyday
amateur could start to afford to set up a small section of workshop in their basement
or garage. And, that in the last ten years has really led to this renaissance in glass
bead making and small scale flamework.