The Alchemy of Glass. Counterfeit, Imitation, and Transmutation in Ancient Glassmaking

In Antiquity, glass, more than any known product of the earth, was a material that could be easily shaped and colored to imitate any precious stone or mineral substance; its natural lustre and transparency inspired ancient naturalists and philosophers at a very early stage to find an explanatory theory that could give a rational account of these marvellous properties. Such efforts increased after the technical revolution inspired by the introduction of glassblowing during the first century BCE, and were intimately connected with the history of alchemy. The present study illustrates how glass played an important role in ancient technical and alchemical literature, and how the chemical operations devised to improve glass making inspired alchemists to better define the theoretical boundaries of their discipline and, more specifically, the concept of transmutation.