"The Toledo Museum of Art has one of the largest, most extensive and most varied collections of Roman glass vessels and objects from the eastern Mediterranean currently housed in any museum"--Foreword, p. 9.

Among glass craftsman active in the 1st century A.D., the most famous and gifted was Ennion, who hailed from the coastal city of Sidon in modern Lebanon. Ennion’s glass stood out for its quality and popularity. His products are distinguished by the fine detail and precision of their relief decoration, which imitates designs found on contemporaneous silverware. This compact, but thorough volume examines the most innovative and elegant known examples of Roman mold-blown glass, providing a uniquely comprehensive, up-to-date study of these exceptional works. Included are some twenty-six remarkably preserved examples of drinking cups, bowls, and jugs signed by Ennion himself, as well as fifteen additional vessels that were clearly influenced by him. The informative texts and illustrations effectively convey the lasting aesthetic appeal of Ennion’s vessels, and offer an accessible introduction to an ancient art form that reached its apogee in the early decades of the Roman Empire.

"The splendor of Islamic glass is revealed in this publication, the first major study of the subject in over seventy years. Glass objects rarely bear inscriptions that provide vital information, and being so readily portable, they have throughout history been carried far from their place of origin. In a feat of patient scholarship, Stefano Carboni draws on a hugh range of sources in many languages and from many disciplines to produce this comprehensive history of Islamic glassmaking. The book is a catalogue of the superb al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait and includes clear and informative introductions to each period, as well as detailed descriptions of some 500 individual objects and fragments, accompanied by hundreds of colour photographs and specially commissioned line drawings. It begins with the legacy of Roman and Sasanian Persian traditions in the early years of Islam and extends well over a thousand years to the last phase of glass production in Mughal India and Safavid and Qajar Iran in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The discussion covers a huge assortment of glass forms and decorative techniques, including the enamelled and gilded glass of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Egypt and Syria, still unsurpassed in its magnificence, as well as many lesser-known categories of glass common to both the early and medieval periods in many locations, ranging from the undecorated to those with applied, cut, moulded or impressed decoration."--Back cover.

This newest publication in the popular Looking At series deals with glass terminology. The often arcane technical terms relating to the production and decoration of glass, as well as names of special shapes of glass beakers, are defined in succinct language. Ranging from ancient Roman moldmade glass to modern pressed glass, this glossary is a handy guide for museum-goers and anyone interested in the art of glassmaking. Illustrated with samples of Roman, Renaissance, Victorian, and modern glass, as well as engravings showing glassmakers at work, the book is both a visual delight and an informative small reference work. Objects shown are from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum; the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York; and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A short bibliography rounds out the volume.

"A concise history of glassmaking around the world, from Mesopotamia to the present day"--

This catalogue accompanies an exhibition that brings together more than 150 glass objects representing twelve centuries of Islamic glassmaking. Included are the principal types of pre-industrial glass from Egypt, the Middle East, and India in a comprehensive array of shapes, colors, and techniques such as glassblowing, the use of molds, the manipulation of molten glass with tools, and the application of molten glass to complete or decorate an object. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

Follow the way social attitudes and historical events—among them, slavery and materialism, wars and plagues—influenced how glassworking developed in the Roman world from the mid-first century B.C. to the late sixth century A.D. Woven into this story is the place of glassware in Roman everyday life, from the lady-of-the-house's cosmetic preparations each morning to the setting of table for the evening meal. Included are two special appendices: one considers the technology of ancient glassmaking, the other summarizes ancient opinions on the properties and merits of glass.