|
Industry : Glazed Ware and Glass
Glazed Ware and Glass
FAIENCEEgyptian faience is different from modern faience (clay covered with a tin enamel): It consists of a core of body material that is covered with a vitreous, alkaline glaze. It was developed in earliest times to provide a colorful substitute for semiprecious stones. The body material, often very fragile, was quartz, which was usually produced by mixing a paste of powdered quartz rock and then placing this in a pottery mold (large quantities of these were made in the form of beads, rings, scarabs, ushabtis, and other projects). Sometimes, a copper wire was placed in the mold, which, after firing, could be removed to leave a suspension hole through the middle of the object. Some faience objects, however, were not molded, and there are examples of vessels that were either wheelturned like pottery or handmade; some other pieces were also handmade. Next, an alkaline glaze, similar in composition to ancient glass, was applied to the object. The usual colors of blue, green, or greenishblue were achieved by adding compounds of copper to the glaze, which was either a sodiumcalcium silicate or a potassium-calcium silicate. Other colors such as violet, white, yellow, red, and black were produced by adding different ingredients. Green and blue faience were nonetheless the most popular colors because they most closely imitated the two semiprecious stones malachite and lapis lazuli that the Egyptian faience-makers were attempting to simulate. Once the glaze had been applied to the core, decoration was sometimes added, particularly to vessels and tiles. Designs were either painted in black onto the glaze or the surface was incised and filled with a different color glaze. Then the piece received its final firing. The earliest faience examples occur in predynastic times. In the reign of Djoser in Dynasty 3 there are fine examples of faience tiles that once adorned the interior of his Step Pyramid at Saqqara, and faience was extremely popular with rich and poor throughout the historic period. It was used for beads and jewelry, inlays, amulets, vessels and bowls, ushabtis, statuettes, tiles, and scarabs. It continued in use until the fourteenth century AD. Another glazed material was also produced in Egypt. As early as the Badarian Period beads were made of glazed steatite, a soft stone that is very easily carved into small objects. Since it becomes hardened when it is heated but does not decompose or fracture it makes a good base for glazing. .
GLASSAncient
Egyptian glaze and glass had the same chemical composition, but they
were used for different purposes: Whereas the glaze was applied to
the surface of a core of body material, glass was used to produce
complete objects. The discovery of the two processes, however, was
probably closely associated, although it is uncertain when glass was
first used independently. Although some small glass objects were
produced in the early periods, it was during Dynasty 18 that glass
manufacture became important; high standards of craftsmanship were
achieved which may have been inspired by contact with other areas of
the Near East. The process soon declined, however, and almost
disappeared from the end of Dynasty 20 onward, and glass only became
popular again in the Roman Period. From earliest times there are
examples of small glass beads and amulets, but perfume jars and
other vessels decorated with wavy lines, which were popular in the
reign of Amenhotep III, provide the most famous examples of Egyptian
glassware. The earliest glass factory found in Egypt can be dated to
that reign; it was located at Thebes, but several others were built
at Amarna during the reign of his son, Akhenaten. There were also
other later factories, and in Roman times Alexandria became one of
the world’s greatest glass manufacturing centers. Glass was produced
in many colors by adding various compounds during the manufacturing
process. Colorless glass occurs in objects found in the tomb of
Tutankhamun and in other later examples. Glass production involved
two stages: Sand and alkali were converted into a frit at a
relatively low temperature, and then the frit was converted to glass
in crucibles in a melting furnace at a much higher temperature. The
first stage was carried out in saucer shaped pans placed on a group
of cylindrical jars within the furnace, and then the material was
placed in clay crucibles and heated in a special furnace. This
caused the material to fuse, creating a body of clear glass. The
glass was then poured into molds or made into thick rods, which were
worked and cut into pieces for inlay. Evidence from the glass
factories at Amarna as well as the objects themselves provides
information about the various techniques employed to make beads,
vases, figurines, and inlay. Blown glass was not developed until the
Roman Period.
.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Industry : Glazed Ware and Glass
|
||||
