1.
Vitreous enamel
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Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C. The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, so in technical terms fired enamelware is an integrated layered composite of glass and metal. Enamelling is an old and widely adopted technology, for most of its history mainly used in jewelry, enamelled and enamelling are the preferred spellings in British English, while enameled and enameling are preferred in American English. The term enamel is most often restricted to work on metal, enamelled glass is also called painted, and overglaze decoration to pottery is often called enamelling. The word enamel comes from the Old High German word smelzan via the Old French esmail, or from a Latin word smaltum, used as a noun, an enamel is usually a small decorative object coated with enamel. Since the 19th century the term also to industrial materials and many metal consumer objects, such as some cooking vessels, dishwashers, laundry machines, sinks. The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to stone objects, pottery, and sometimes jewellery, the ancient Greeks, Celts, Georgians, and Chinese also used enamel on metal objects. Enamel powder could be produced in two ways, either by powdering coloured glass, or by mixing colourless glass powder with pigments such as a metallic oxide, designs were either painted freehand or over the top of outline incisions, and the technique probably originated in metalworking. Once painted, enamelled glass vessels needed to be fired at a high enough to melt the applied powder. Ancient Persians used this method for colouring and ornamenting the surface of metals by fusing over it brilliant colours that are decorated in an intricate design and called it Meenakari. Gold has been used traditionally for Meenakari Jewellery as it holds the enamel better, lasts longer, initially, the work of Meenakari often went unnoticed as this art was traditionally used as a backing for the famous kundan or stone-studded jewellery. This also allowed the wearer to reverse the jewellery as also promised a special joy in the secret of the hidden design, the Byzantine enamel style was widely adopted by the barbarian peoples of Migration Period northern Europe. The Byzantines then began to use cloisonné more freely to create images, the champlevé technique was considerably easier and very widely practiced in the Romanesque period. In Gothic art the finest work is in basse-taille and ronde-bosse techniques, from either Byzantium or the Islamic world, the cloisonné technique reached China in the 13-14th centuries. The first written reference to cloisonné is in a book from 1388, cloisonné remained very popular in China until the 19th century and is still produced today. Starting from the century, the Japanese also produced large quantities of very high technical quality. A resurgence in enamel-based art took place near the end of the 20th century in the Soviet Union, led by artists like Alexei Maximov, in Australia, abstract artist Bernard Hesling brought the style into prominence with his variously sized steel plates. Enamel was first applied commercially to sheet iron and steel in Austria, industrialization increased as the purity of raw materials increased and costs decreased
2.
Mica
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The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having nearly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition, the nearly perfect cleavage, which is the most prominent characteristic of mica, is explained by the hexagonal sheet-like arrangement of its atoms. The word mica is derived from the Latin word mica, meaning a crumb, and probably influenced by micare, to glitter. Chemically, micas can be given the general formula X2Y4–6Z8O204 in which X is K, Na, or Ca or less commonly Ba, Rb, or Cs, Y is Al, Mg, or Fe or less commonly Mn, Cr, Ti, Li, etc. Z is chiefly Si or Al, but also may include Fe3+ or Ti, structurally, micas can be classed as dioctahedral and trioctahedral. If the X ion is K or Na, the mica is a common mica, whereas if the X ion is Ca, mica is widely distributed and occurs in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary regimes. Large crystals of mica used for various applications are typically mined from granitic pegmatites, until the 19th century, large crystals of mica were quite rare and expensive as a result of the limited supply in Europe. However, their price dramatically dropped when large reserves were found and mined in Africa, the largest documented single crystal of mica was found in Lacey Mine, Ontario, Canada, it measured 10 ×4.3 ×4.3 m and weighed about 330 tonnes. Similar-sized crystals were found in Karelia, Russia. The British Geological Survey reported that as of 2005, Koderma district in Jharkhand state in India had the largest deposits of mica in the world. China was the top producer of mica with almost a third of the share, closely followed by the US, South Korea. Large deposits of mica were mined in New England from the 19th century to the 1970s. Large mines existed in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine, scrap and flake mica is produced all over the world. In 2010, the producers were Russia, Finland, United States, South Korea, France. The total production was 350,000 t, although no data were available for China. Most sheet mica was produced in India and Russia, flake mica comes from several sources, the metamorphic rock called schist as a byproduct of processing feldspar and kaolin resources, from placer deposits, and from pegmatites. Sheet mica is considerably less abundant than flake and scrap mica, the most important sources of sheet mica are pegmatite deposits. Sheet mica prices vary with grade and can range from less than $1 per kilogram for low-quality mica to more than $2,000 per kilogram for the highest quality, the mica group represents 37 phyllosilicate minerals that have a layered or platy texture
3.
Mosque lamp
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They are oil lamps, usually with a large round bulbous body rising to a narrower waist, above which the top section is flared. There is usually a foot so they can be placed on a surface and they were used to light mosques and other buildings in mosque complexes, in large spaces in groups hanging from a circular metal frame. The circular frames continue to be used in many mosques today, the techniques used are typical of contemporary Islamic glass, with the enamel decoration applied to a pre-fired plain body, and the whole then fired for a second time. Such opaque materials were much less effective as lighting, but the purpose of the lamp was symbolic as well as practical, mosque lamps are often shown in profile at the head of a prayer rug for the same reason. The decoration of the lamps often includes either the name or the symbol from Islamic heraldry of the donor, other types of lighting in mosques were large metal lamp stands, like very wide candlesticks, which were also used in secular buildings. These could be very intricately decorated, the elaborate decorated types were mostly succeeded by plain glass oil lamps with a simple rim at the top, by which they were attached to a circular metal bar. In 2000, three 14th-century Mamluk mosque lamps in pristine condition from the collection of Bethsabée de Rothschild sold at Christies in London for £1,763,750, £993,750 and £641,750. In the second half of the 19th century, a number of forgeries, or expensive glass ornaments in the style of Mamluk lamps were produced in France and Italy
4.
Islamic world contributions to Medieval Europe
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During the high medieval period, the Islamic world was at its cultural peak, supplying information and ideas to Europe, via Andalusia, Sicily and the Crusader kingdoms in the Levant. These included Latin translations of the Greek Classics and of Arabic texts in astronomy, mathematics, science, other contributions included technological and scientific innovations via the Silk Road, including Chinese inventions such as paper and gunpowder. Many Arabic loanwords in Western European languages, including English, mostly via Old French and this includes traditional star names such as Aldebaran, scientific terms like alchemy, algebra, algorithm, etc. and names of commodities such as sugar, camphor, cotton, etc. Europe and the Islamic lands had multiple points of contact during the Middle Ages, the main points of transmission of Islamic knowledge to Europe lay in Sicily and in Spain, particularly in Toledo. The Moroccan Muhammad al-Idrisi wrote The Book of Pleasant Journeys into Faraway Lands or Tabula Rogeriana, one of the greatest geographical treatises of the Middle Ages, the Crusades also intensified exchanges between Europe and the Levant, with the Italian maritime republics taking a major role in these exchanges. In the Levant, in cities as Antioch, Arab. During the 11th and 12th centuries, many Christian scholars travelled to Muslim lands to learn sciences, notable examples include Leonardo Fibonacci, Adelard of Bath and Constantine the African. From the 11th to the 14th centuries, numerous European students attended Muslim centers of learning to study medicine, philosophy, mathematics, cosmography. These texts were in turn translated into Latin by scholars such as Michael Scot during the Middle Ages, Eastern Christians played an important role in exploiting this knowledge, especially through the Christian Aristotelian School of Baghdad in the 11th and 12th centuries. Later Latin translations of these originated in multiple places. Toledo, Spain and Sicily became the points of transmission of knowledge from the Islamic world to Europe. Burgundio of Pisa discovered lost texts of Aristotle in Antioch and translated them into Latin, from Islamic Spain, the Arabic philosophical literature was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and Ladino. Avicennism and Averroism are terms for the revival of the Peripatetic school in medieval Europe due to the influence of Avicenna and Averroes, Avicenna was an important commentator on the works of Aristotle, modifying it with his own original thinking in some areas, notably logic. The effects of Avicennism in were later submerged by the more influential Averroism. Averroes disagreed with Avicennas interpretations of Aristotle in areas such as the unity of the intellect, Dante Aligheri argues along Averroist lines for a secularist theory of the state in De Monarchia. Averroes also developed the concept of existence precedes essence, al-Ghazali also had an important influence on medieval Christian philosopher along with Jewish thinkers like Maimonides. He notes that dictation was a part of Arabic scholarship. During the Islamic Golden Age, certain advances were made in fields, notably in mathematics and astronomy
5.
Moser (glass company)
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Moser a. s. is a luxury glass manufacturer based in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, previously Karlsbad in Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. The company is known for manufacturing stemware, decorative glassware, glass gifts, Moser is one of the most collected of 20th century decorative glass and has been used everywhere from palaces to local restaurants. From its beginnings in 1857, as a polishing and engraving workshop, engraving blanks, from Loetz, Meyrs Neffe and Harrachov was performed by the workshop in the early years. At the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873 he was awarded a medal for merit and he would win numerous other awards in the coming years, including medals at the World Exhibitions in Paris in 1879,1889 and 1900, and the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. In 1904 Moser received a warrant to supply the Imperial Court of the Emperor of Austria, Art Nouveau glass pieces were produced Moser with surface decoration with natural themes and simple cameo glass. They also used the Eckentiefgravur technique employing a sharp angular body deeply cut in the form of intaglio flowers and they also exhibited in London, Belgium, Italy and Vienna. The depression of the early 1930s exacted its toll, reducing its staff to 240, later, having sold their company shares in the company in 1938, they fled the county after areas of Czechoslovakia were annexed. The city of Karlovy Vary was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1938 after the Munich Agreement, because of its international reputation, the company was able to retain some independence during the communist era while the rest of the Czech glass industry was nationalised in 1948. The Art Nouveau designs of heavily engraved lilies and the Fipop series from c1914 were some of the most notable pieces, several cheaper lower quality derivatives of the Fipop designs were produced by other companies and between 1927 and 1933 two American glassmakers made copies calling them Woodland and Deerwood. Moser was one of the few Czechoslovakian glassmakers to sign their pieces, the king Luís I of Portugal and his wife, Maria Pia of Savoy. Ludwig Moser developed a lead-free sodium-potassium glass that is ecologically friendly than lead glass yet is extremely hard. Moser still produces some of its classic Fipop designs, a factory museum shows the 150-year story of the company in more than 2,000 pieces on display supplemented by documentaries and audio guides. Besides having four retail outlets in the Czech Republic, two in Prague and two in the companys hometown Karlovy Vary, Moser has a network of retailers. Mosers US distribution company was established in Northern Virginia in 1957, praseodymium Didymium Notes Sources Czech Design Moser glass marks Official website The History of Moser Glass - Andrew Lineham
6.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
7.
Damascening
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Damascening is the art of inlaying different metals into one another—typically, gold or silver into a darkly oxidized steel background—to produce intricate patterns similar to niello. The English term comes from a resemblance to the rich tapestry patterns of damask silk. The technique has a history in Japan, where it was used to decorate katana fittings. Damascened-inlay jewelry, especially of Japanese origin, is referred to as shakudo from the use of that alloy as the dark background. The technique of niello is also attested in prehistoric Greece. The earliest occurrence of damascening in the Aegean, from the Shaft Graves of Mycenae, ultimately of Near Eastern provenance, the technique of inlaying silver/gold was adapted to suit Aegean taste and style. Cities that are known for a history in Damascening where the technique is still practiced are Malaysia, Indonesia, Toledo, Spain, Eibar, Basque Country and Kyoto. Damascene in Toledo, Spain Damascene arrived to Toledo from Damascus, nevertheless, the art has long been practised in Persia, Japan and even China. Damascene ware - damasquinado or damasquino, in Spanish - is the art of decorating steel with threads of gold, Toledo has developed a very important industry around this craft, also known as Toledo Gold. The art of damascene has passed from generation to generation within the family for centuries. Toledo supplies to many shops in Spain where the pieces are sold as a souvenir. Some of these reproductions are so expertly produced that even knowledgeable Toledeans admit the difficulty of recognizing them as such, nowadays you can find also craftsmen who perform high quality pieces, commissioned by private customers or collectors. The damascene style renewal comes from the descendants of ancient craftsmen, the two pendants shown at left in gold and silver, one with Swarovski crystals, are examples of the newer handmade style. Kris Intarsia Marquetry Demonstration of the technique as practiced in Toledo, Spain El Arte de Toledo Damascening
8.
Stained glass
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The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, mosques, although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has extended the term stained glass to include domestic leadlight. As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The coloured glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together by strips of lead. Painted details and yellow stain are used to enhance the design. The term stained glass is applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass. Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as illuminated wall decorations, Stained glass is still popular today, but often referred to as art glass. It is prevalent in luxury homes, commercial buildings, and places of worship, artists and companies are contracted to create beautiful art glass ranging from domes, windows, backsplashes, etc. During the late Medieval period, glass factories were set up there was a ready supply of silica. Silica requires very high heat to become molten, something not all glass factories were able to achieve, such materials as potash, soda, and lead can be added to lower the melting temperature. Other substances, such as lime, are added to rebuild the weakened network, Glass is coloured by adding metallic oxide powders or finely divided metals while it is in a molten state. Copper oxides produce green or bluish green, cobalt makes deep blue, much modern red glass is produced using copper, which is less expensive than gold and gives a brighter, more vermilion shade of red. Glass coloured while in the pot in the furnace is known as pot metal glass
