Minnesota Academy of Science 



ANCIENT GLASS AND POTTERY. 



President T. B. Walker. 



Excepting perhaps decorative carvings on bone and on 

 shell ornaments for personal adornment, the most ancient of 

 all arts is that of making and decorating pottery or earthen- 

 ware. The art of the potter has been the predominant one 

 in all the early ages and from its universal distribution and 

 as useful and ornamental art, it may be regarded as the 

 primary and foremost art of the world, both ancient and 

 modern. 



The potter's art led to designing, coloring and illus- 

 trating. It was the forerunner of sculpture, decorative 

 architecture and of the art of painting. And while the 

 sculptor's and painter's art appeals more to the interest and 

 art tastes of mankind of the later ages, yet the more gener- 

 ally; applied art of the potter and glass maker has extended 

 more universally through all the domestic and art life of the 

 world. It represents such a vast variety of beautiful forms 

 and colors, as well as decoration for universal use, that from 

 the standpoint of its useful application and varied forms, the 

 potter's art, and particularly if we add that of glass, will 

 stand .foremost and generally the most valuable and attrac- 

 tive art of the world, taking precedence over painting and 

 sculpture. 



The art of glass-making has commonly been regarded 

 as a much more modern discovery or invention than writ- 

 ten history and more particularly the records of the tombs 

 and old ruins indicate. While glass for common use as 

 windows for admitting light but excluding wind and rain 

 is more a modern innovation, yet the making of glass, par- 

 ticularly of the much finer and more beautiful examples, 

 dates back to earlier times. In the ruins of old Bablyonia 

 are found examples of finely colored glass that are so hard 

 that it requires the use of carborundum to cut and polish 

 them. The discoveries are mostly of small pieces , evidently 

 made of pulverized gem stones made into glass either by 

 entire fusion or by the mixture of the ground material with 

 an otherwise clear glass compound that makes of it a clear 

 but beautifully colored glass, that has all the appearance 



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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 



