GLASS WARKS, 189 



(luctioa was a most sincere and earnest desire to develop the home trade and to 

 raise its standard by joining' to it new and related branches of independent indus- 

 tries. With this desire many promoters of tliat time were thorouj^hly imbued. Amongst 

 them were some who were possessed of an inborn genius and love of technique ; 

 being also endowed with great energy they became powerful movers in tiie trade 

 development of the Empire. 



«The principal characteristic of these promoters was, amongst other things, the 

 capacity of influencing others to take an active part in the development and in the 

 fruits of the new industry as directed by their own labours. Their thirst for activity 

 extended much farther than to the satisfying of their own personal interests ; they 

 invited cooperation by publishing articles on the prolitable character of the glass trade, 

 by describing theii" own factories to all comers, and thus exerted a great influence 

 upon the industry. In a word, these men were exemplary promoters, who have left 

 as a noble inheritance their worthy examples to inspire contemporary and future 

 generations ». 



Amongst these promoters was Ivan Akimovich Maltsev, the principal founder 

 of the best and most ancient groups of Russian glass works. He is also known as 

 the introducer of the beet sugar industry and of engine building in the Empire. 

 The factories of Maltsev, which were first founded in the sixties of the last century, 

 developed and increased during the life of Ivan Akimovich, as also during that of 

 his two heirs, his son Sergei Ivanovich, and his nephew, Ivan Sergeevich, his son 

 having inherited his farther's perseverance and untiring activity in developing fac- 

 tories already established, and in founding new ones. The works of Maltsev are 

 divided into two groups : the original, in the governments of Oriol, Kaluga and 

 Smolensk, and the eastern, in the governments of Vladimir and Eiazan. On 

 the other hand, the introduction of the manufacture of artistic glass was favourably 

 influenced by the high education and the love for art of the highest order among u 

 number of people possessing a decided talent for technique; and many establishments 

 were founded in Eussia by persons of that class. Simultaneously with the Maltsev 

 works, another glass manufactory was founded by Alexei Nikolaievich Bakhmetiev 

 in 1764, in the government of Penza. This establishment, called Nikolski Crystal Works, 

 belonging at the present time to Prince A. D. Oboleuski, was remarkable for its 

 manufactures of especially artistic Venetian glass, some of which has survived till 

 now, and for some ornamental products in coloured glass, as also some imitation of 

 artistic filigree work. 



Later on, the conditions of the time and the demands of the market changed. 

 Only that work survived which from the very beginning, or later on, was directed 

 to the satisfying of the more positive necessities of life, and Avhich continued to in- 

 crease with the change in the character of the markets. Those ancient works, how- 

 ever, in which artistic glass was manufactured, have retained their influence on the 

 entire history of the glass industry. Their traditions, passing from one generation of 

 workmen to another, have tended much to elevate glass manufacture in the different 

 regions, even in those engaged exclusively in supplying the most ordinary demands. 



In Siberia, glass works were founded very early. One of the the most ancient 

 manufactories in Siberia, near Tobolsk, in the village Aremzianka, produced glass by 

 the commonest means of that time, with the aid of wood ash and local potash. It 



