Since the fifteenth century, Venetian glass had been regarded as an international luxury, the "star attraction" of high society dinner tables. It was initially considered an imitation of crystal.
The more transparent and nearly colorless it was, the higher its "purity" was considered. Yet even though some Venetian glassmakers imitated dazzling Venetian glass in places such as Antwerp, the strict secrecy surrounding melting techniques, furnace construction, and craftsmanship continued to restrict the development of the glass industry in every country.
It was not until the latter half of the seventeenth century that an important change occurred in the production and use of glass. This change had nothing to do with the "spread" of Venetian techniques, however, but was the result of an English invention. George Ravenscroft had once participated in Venetian trade with his brother, and he had considered going onto the island to steal its secrets. But the tight security there made them abandon the idea. He then observed that the riverbeds of Italy contained a kind of flint pebble which, after being forged at high temperatures, could produce a heavy, white, clear, lustrous variety of glass. He also extracted soda from Italian plant ash and added a "mysterious substance," making the glass easier to cut. In the end, England invented colorless glass through its attempts at imitation.
The luxury mirrors once held by noblewomen became glass windows and wine bottles for ordinary households. In the eighteenth century, this technique reached France, where glass bottles replaced earthenware jars for storing all kinds of alcohol. The Netherlands and the Venetians later adopted the technique as well.
The people of Batavia accidentally discovered a remarkable phenomenon while making glass. If molten glass was allowed to drip naturally into cold water under gravity, it formed teardrop-shaped "glass tears." They were incredibly strong