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Krautstrunk,
XVe siècle
© Musée historique, Strasbourg - Photo Musées de Strasbourg
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GLASS IN EVERYDAY LIFE
24/4/2015-1/11/2015
THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF GLASS IN ALSACE AND LORRAINE FROM THE AGE OF ANTIQUITY TO THE PRESENT DAY
Glass in everyday life
Glass and crystal are essential elements in the history and development of Alsace and Lorraine, and the Northern Vosges region in particular, where vast forests proved ideal territory for itinerant glassmakers to set up temporary glassworks. Many of them took up permanent residence at the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment, resulting in the emergence of new villages and - in the following century - the development of prosperous and prestigious manufacturing companies such as Baccarat and Saint-Louis. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, talented artists and industrialists such as Gallé, Daum and Lalique all used glass in their artistic creation.
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Posted 14 April 2015
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Today, the region of France known as « Le Grand Est », comprising, Alsace, Bourgogne, Champagne-Ardenne, Franche-Comté and Lorraine, is still the centre of French crystal glassware production. What is less well known is that it is also home to many international industrial glass companies producing bottles, sheet glass and optical glass. There are also a host of art workshops using traditional or avant-garde techniques, and organisations such as the CIAV (Centre International d’Art Verrier) at Meisenthal whose vocation is to open up new perspectives for an industry so profoundly rooted in the region’s identity.
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Timeline
ca. 3500 BC Glass was discovered in the Middle East
first glass objects were rods, beads and various types of amulet.
ca. 1500 BC irst hollow glass objects were made
The art of glassmaking reached the Near East and spread to the west. Glass was shipped in the form of blocks, where it was melted down and made into goblets, glasses, etc.
ca. 50 BC The blowpipe was invented in Syria
This innovation made it possible to produce on a larger scale. At this point glass spread to the Roman Empire, initially thanks to trade, and subsequently glassworks began to appear.
2nd to 7th c. AD The first glass was produced in North-East Gaul
There were around a dozen small glassworks in the Moselle, Meuse and Marne regions, but the majority of glass still came from Trier and, Cologne, the most renowned and productive glassmaking regions.
9th century The first treaty on the art of glass
A Benedictine monk named Theophilus wrote an account of the techniques of all known crafts of the day: le Diverserum Astrum Schedula, which included a chapter on glass.
11th to 12 th c. The art of glassmaking flourished in the Verdun and Argonne regions.
1291 Murano became a major glassmaking centre
A law decreed that all Venetian glass be transferred to the island of Murano, for reasons of hygiene, security and control.
14th century Glassmaking developed in the Vôge region (the Vosges and Haute-Saone)
1406 Chart of Spessart
In this glassmaking region east of Frankfurt, glassmakers established a code of practice in which they agreed that the craft may only be handed down from father to son.
1448 Glassmakers’ Chart
Jean de Calabre, governor of Lorraine, granted master glassmakers a privileged status, giving them the title of squire, thus assimilating them to nobility.
16th century Diverging lenses to correct myopia or short-sightedness were invented
Lorraine was renowned for its glassmaking industry, particularly for bottles and window glass.
1615 The first coal furnaces appeared in England
1665 A royal mirror factory was founded
in the forest of St-Gobain in 1693.
1674 Lead glass was patented in England by George Ravenscroft
This is what we call English crystal glass.
1683 Bohemian crystal was invented.
This is quartz glass, rich in potash and lime.
1704 The Meisenthal Glassworks was founded
Initially specialised in goblets and watch glass, Meisenthal ventured into glass art in the Art Nouveau period.
1715The Hocherg Glassworks was founded
1721 The Goetzenbruck Glassworks was founded
It was to become a world leader in watch glass, before going on to specialise in optical glass.
1764 The Baccarat Glassworks was founded
It was to become one of the top producers of French crystal in the 19th century.
1767 The Saint-Louis Glassworks was founded
It became one of the most prestigious manufacturers of crystal glass, specialising in tableware, chandeliers and paperweights.
1781 Saint-Louis was recognised as France’s leading crystal glass manufacturer
by the Royal Academy of Sciences.
1821 The first compressed air technique was invented (known as the Robinet pump, named after the Baccarat glassmaker who developed it)
1827 The pressed glass technique was developed by an American named Enoch Robinson
1862 The acid etching process was developed
1867 Emile Gallé began working with the Meisenthal Glassworks.
1921The Alsace Glassworks was founded in Wingen-sur-Moder by René Lalique, a former jeweller turned master glassmaker in Wingen-sur-Moder.
1952 Float glass was invented by Pilkingtons in the United Kingdom
1969 The Meisenthal Glassworks closed down.
1983 The Meisenthal Glass Museum was inaugurated
1992 The Centre International d’Art Verrier was inaugurated in Meisenthal
2006 La Grande Place - Musée du Cristal was inaugurated at Saint-Louis showcasing two and a half centuries of creation
2011 The Musée Lalique was inaugurated
Hochberg pays homage to its glassmaking tradition, with a museum devoted to the Art Deco master glassmaker and his successors.
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The legend of glass
«There is in Syria a region named Phenicia, bordering on Judea, with a stretch of marshland named Candebia at the foot of Mount Carmel. This is believed to be the origin of the River Belus, which runs for five thousand paces before flowing into the sea near the colony of Ptolemaïs. The story goes that “…. once a ship belonging to some traders in natural soda put in here and that they scattered along the shore to prepare a meal. Since, however, no stones suitable for supporting their cauldrons were forthcoming, they rested them on lumps of soda from their cargo. When these became heated and completely mingled with the sand on the beach a strange translucent liquid flowed forth in streams; and this, it is said, was the origin of glass.”
Pliny the Elder, Natural History, XXXVI, 65
A LITTLE TECHNICAL DETAIL
Natural soda, or natron, is a stone rich in sodium carbonate. It is one of the components that can be used to lower the temperature at which glass melts.
GLASS OR CRYSTAL?
Crystal is a form of glass. Glass must contain at least 24% of lead for it to be considered as crystal.
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Jewellery
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Glass beads and amulets were the first elements of jewellery to be produced from glass. Men and women immediately recognised the attraction of this fascinating material and all manner of shapes, colours and techniques were used to make articles of jewellery, beginning with necklaces and pendants. Polished glass beads were also set in rings, earrings and other accessories.
From ancient times, glass was used to imitate gemstones. Pliny the Ancient denounced this usage, but it continued through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, particularly in Venice. Writings by authors such as Antonio Neri and Johann Kunckel in the 17th century revealed some of the secrets of glassmaking techniques. In the early 18th century, a Parisian jeweller of German origin, Georges Strass, sought to imitate diamonds with lead glass. In the 19th century, glass beads gained tremendously in popularity, both for jewellery and for adding ornament to clothing and accessories.
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Collier Dahlias et rondelles plates
1927 - René Lalique
Mould-pressed and enamelled glass
Musée Lalique, Shai Bandmann und Ronald Ooi Collection
René Lalique was considered by Emile Gallé as the inventor of modern jewellery. Among the innovative new possibililties he opened up was the association of materials that had previously been little used and considered of minor interest by jewellers - such as horn, ivory, enamel and glass - with gold and precious stones. Even after putting an end to his career as a jeweller, Lalique continued to design and produce glass jewellery using the mould-pressed technique that made it possible to produce in larger numbers, enhancing his creations with patina or enamel. The elements that make up his pendants, necklaces, bracelets, hat pins, cuff links, etc are either simply mounted on metal, or assembled with elastic or some form of trimming. Lalique’s daughter, Suzanne Lalique Haviland no doubt played a major role in these creations.
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Perfumery
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Sirènes (Mermaids) Perfume bottle
c.1905, René Lalique
Moulded glass with the cire perdue technique, gold
Musée Lalique,
on loan from Shai Bandmann and Ronald Ooi
An exceptional piece, dating from the period when René Lalique was at the height of his career as a jeweller. The bottle is smooth on the outside, the motif is « enclosed » inside. The mermaids that seem to be swimming in the greenish waters of a lake are a reminder that the artist’s imagination was peopled with fantastic creatures.
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In Gallo-Roman times, glass bottles of various shapes and functions were extremely important. The inhabitants of Roman Gaul took particular care of their appearance, and rare and precious balms, perfumes and oils were kept in small glass recipients such as balsamaries, lacrymatories and aryballi.
Enamelled metal and porcelain bottles soon came to compete with glass, and later on crystal manufacturers began producing sumptuous perfume caskets that were sometimes mounted in gold, wood or leather. By the end of the 19th century, industrial production had become the norm, and the development of synthetic materials and appearance of the first department stores contributed to the democratisation of perfumery.
The Belle Epoque period (from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the First World War) turned the perfume industry into what we know today, with perfumery companies marketing their fragrances in luxury bottles and packaging. René Lalique played a major role in this evolution, in the course of which the perfume bottle became an ambassador of the perfume’s message. As the brands’ prestige increased, so did profit margins. Today more than ever before, a perfume bottle must be as original and attractive as possible in order to fulfil its marketing function.
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Tableware
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Wingen tableware set
26, René Lalique
Blown glass, with mould-pressed stem and stopper
Musée Lalique, Wingen-sur-Moder
The factory set up by René Lalique in Wingen-sur-Moder in 1921, the Verrerie d’Alsace, was specialised in tableware. Lalique designed and produced over eighty sets of glasses. Wingen is one of the most symbolic, firstly because it is named after the village where the factory was established, and secondly because its smooth, clean lines are particularly characteristic of the Art Deco, movement of which René Lalique was a key figure.
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With its incomparable physical and chemical properties, glass is perfectly suited to the conservation of food products, particularly liquids. Glass was used in the food industry from Gallo-Roman times onwards, Alongside clay and metal, glass goblets and jugs, plates and bowls, contributed to enhancing culinary art, sometimes vying for supremacy with these other materials.
Goblets remained in common usage throughout the Middle Ages, while stemmed glasses gradually made an appearance, featuring particularly decorative stems under the influence of glassmakers from Venice and Bohemia, and then England.
Up until the French Revolution, drinking glasses were kept on the sideboard in the homes of the wealthy. A servant would bring them out and return them to their place once the drinkers had drunk up. There was no need for specific shapes or even the same number of glasses as drinkers.
In the course of the 19th century, shapes were simplified, and the concept of services was developed, with wine carafes, water jugs and glasses of different sizes. With time, catalogues appeared, with an amazing variety of objects and recipients for the upper and middle classes such as candlesticks, jam pots, sugar bowls, salt cellars, butter dishes and serviette rings. The wide variety of items corresponded to demand, and the tastes and fashions of the times.
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Bottles
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Glass is a pure, healthy and natural material, making it particularly suitable for food and pharmaceutical products as well as for perfume. It is perfectly neutral, protecting without altering the taste or odour of whatever contents it receives. And it is totally impermeable, ensuring perfect conservation for long periods. Thanks to its transparency, the contents can be immediately recognised. All these features explain the success of glass as a packaging material over the centuries. Bottles and jars were long used with no particular differentiation for conserving liquids such as wine, oil, vinegar, spirits, and scented water as well as foods such as olives, capers, anchovies and gherkins.
It was not until the 19th century that specific shapes and usages became the norm. In the case of wines and spirits, for example, the shape of the bottle varies according to the region because of the characteristics of the product.
Though plastic, metal and cardboard are now strong competitors, glass continues to retain its share of the market thanks to the added value it brings, and is still dominant in the wine, pharmaceutical and perfume industries.
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Saint-Odile Bottle
1922
Mould-blown glass
Musée Lalique, Wingen-sur-Moder
Shortly after moving to Alsace, René Lalique produced glasses and bottles with the effigy of Ste Odile, for a winegrower in Obernai by the name of Pierre Weissenburger. He went on to produce promotional objects for Weissenburger such as ice buckets and ashtrays.
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Spirituality
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Deux colombes (Two doves) Plaque
1930, René Lalique
Mould-pressed glass
Musée Lalique,
on loan from Shai Bandmann and Ronald Ooi
From the 1920s, René Lalique was commissioned to decorate a number of churches. In 1930 he produced several pieces for the chapel of Notre Dame de Fidélité in Douvres-la-Délivrande in Normandy, including a crucifix, three glass panels, an altarpiece, a communion table and a sanctuary lamp adorned with lilies. He also designed a tabernacle door featuring two doves that the Mother Superior refused on the grounds that it was too profane; in its place Lalique proposed a single dove with open wings, symbolising the Holy Spirit.
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Most of the existing examples of antique glass were found in tombs, either because they were part of the funeral rites or were destined to enhance the life of the deceased in the other world. Glass beads were intended to help the soul on its journey, along with gold, amber and coral. Small glass bottles of unguents and perfumed oils were part of the ritual objects, while tableware made of glass, clay or metal symbolised the funeral banquet and the continuity of a certain style of life after death. Decorative glass cremation urns served to hold the ashes after incineration.
The use of glass as a material for sacred vases practically disappeared between the 9th and 11th centuries, but regained popularity from the 16th century as the Christian church recognised its qualities, associating glass with purity and spirituality. It was also less expensive than precious metals such as silver and gold.
In the middle of the 19th century, many religious objects such as statuettes, holy water stoups and crucifixes were made of moulded glass, which was often silvered. This was also the period in which glass balls became popular as Christmas decorations. The first mention of Christmas balls goes back to 1857 in Goetzenbruck, but the tradition has been revived by the CIAV at Meisenthal.
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Light and lighting
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Glass and light are inseparable. From time immemorial the refractory properties and transparency of glass have been used to protect, intensify and diffuse light. Glass is associated with the energy of light firstly for technical reasons, but aesthetics also come into it, the marriage of the two making a perfect match.
Until the 18th century, systems for night lighting made visual concentration difficult. The flickering of candlelight was accentuated by the crystal drops intended to increase the power of the light given by the chandeliers of the day, but elegant, engraved protective glass was gradually introduced, which gave a more constant and gentle light.
In the course of the 19th century, French chandeliers gained ground over their competitors from Bohemia and England. Inspired by Louis XIV and the splendour of the « Grand Siècle », France exported chandeliers and candelabra to many destinations, including the Russian Empire.
At the same time, gas and oil-fired light and electric light started to make rapid progress, bringing much more reliable and efficient lighting in which glass retained its central role, thanks to its excellent optical properties.
Electric lighting suited the intricate floral and colourful Art Nouveau designs for interior lamps, while Lalique tended to favour the effects of frosted glass, to increase the diffusion of light. Glass remains a vital element for designers of lamps and lighting today
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Chemist’s lantern
Late 19th century
Etched glass
Musée alsacien, Strasbourg
This lantern has four glass sides, each of which has diamond-etched motifs featuring hearts, flowers, a stag, scales and vases. It comes from a chemist’s shop.
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Flat glass
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Model
for the production of glass cylinders
For centuries, window glass was produced with a hand-blown technique and the result was called cylinder blown sheet. This technique was particularly common in north-eastern France. Glass was blown into a cylindrical iron mould; the ends were then cut off and a cut made down the side of the cylinder. The cut cylinder was then placed in another furnace where it unrolled into a flat glass sheet.
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As a transparent, easy to colour and physically hard material, glass has become indispensable in architecture, the ideal medium for bringing light into an interior. Flat glass was first developed by the Romans: inserted into bays by means of metal elements, it was used both for the houses of patricians and public monuments.
Window glass was manufactured throughout late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, which also saw the arrival of stained glass, particularly important in Gothic architecture, where huge expanses of stained glass provided a surface for transmitting biblical messages.
Lorraine was particularly renowned for the production of window glass in the 16th century, and also for mirrors, which it exported to all the countries of Christendom.
In civic architecture, lead was gradually replaced by wood to frame the panes of lattice windows, as technical progress made it possible to produce larger sheets of glass. The 19th century saw the triumph of glass and metal architecture.
For centuries, flat glass was mainly produced by the blowing technique. It was not until the early 20th century that the draw process was developed, and float glass did not appear until 1952. In addition to transparency, glass is now expected to protect and insulate. Alongside its aesthetic and decorative properties, performance has become a key factor.
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Multi-functional and high performance
The properties of glass have been recognised from its invention in ancient times, making it indispensable to man for its various decorative and ornamental functions as well as for holding perfumes, liquids and foodstuffs and diffusing light. Over the centuries it has evolved and adapted to changing tastes, and become increasingly efficient and technical.
Other materials such as plastic have become major competitors, but glass continues to play a major role, sometimes in the most unexpected places. While its use in mobile phone screens, household and sanitary equipment is visible and obvious, we may be surprised to find it in boat hulls and car bodies, printed circuit boards, car tyres and pipelines, in the form of fibres. Fibres have also revolutionised communication by enabling signals to be transmitted from one end of the earth to the other at the speed of light. And in the form of wool, glass is widely recognised for its thermal and phonic insulation properties.
From its origins, glass had an artistic as well as a functional role, and the development of its decorative aspect owes much to the work of artists such as Emile Gallé and René Lalique at the end of the 19th and through the 20th century.
Today it is not only a profoundly artist medium, but no doubt because it is an « art of fire », glass continues to conjure up the mystery of the alchemical process. Whether its use be artistic or functional, for a sculpture or everyday object, glass has a uniquely magical aura.
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The Lalique Museum, Wingen-sur-Moder
The Lalique Museum opened in July 2011 in the village that remains the only site in the world for the production of Lalique crystal. It presents the full panoply of Lalique creation from the 19th century jewellery to the contemporary crystal pieces, not forgetting the perfume bottles and Art Deco objects.
GLASS: A TRADITIONAL INDUSTRY IN THE NORTHERN VOSGES REGION OF FRANCE
The glassmaking tradition in France’s Northern Vosges region dates back to the 15th century. This relatively poor part of France had the raw materials the master glassmakers required for their craft, which were silicon dioxide, the main element necessary to make glass, and wood to fuel the kilns.
The Lalique Museum is located at Hochberg, where a glass factory was in activity from 1715 to 1868.
LALIQUE AT WINGEN-SUR-MODER
Half a century after the closure of the Hochberg glassworks, the glass industry experienced a renaissance at Wingen-sur-Moder when René Lalique founded the Alsace Glassworks in 1921. He knew he would find the skilled workforce he required, and that he would benefit from the incentives the French government was introducing to make the Alsace and Moselle regions a showcase of French prestige.
A UNIQUE MUSEUM
There are prestigious Lalique collections on show in many countries around the world. The Lalique Museum has chosen to showcase all aspects of the artist’s work, giving pride of place to the glass and crystal pieces produced on site at Wingen-sur-Moder.
The fact that these works were actually created in the village chosen by René Lalique to build his factory provides an excellent opportunity to look at the manufacturing techniques and the glassmakers themselves, whose know-how has been passed down from generation to generation. But the Musem also encompasses the production of René Lalique’s successors, Marc and Marie-Claude, and of the current creative team, thus broadening its scope to give an unprecedented vision of the Lalique universe.
ARCHITECTURE DESIGNED TO BLEND INTO THE LANDSCAPE
French architects Wilmotte & Associés, together with the Atelier Crupi de Colmar, were assigned the task of integrating the museum into the Hochberg site (listed as a historic monument in 1996) and the surrounding environment.
The original building was rehabilitated, with the addition of a semi-buried contemporary building that gives the Lalique Museum all the functionality required of a 21st century museum. The sober and elegant design uses the power and simplicity of black to ensure optimum visibility and lighting of the exhibits. The setting works as a perfect backdrop, leaving the pieces free to exert their unique magic on the visitor.
The gardens are an integral part of the museum visit: the species planted were chosen for the role they played in Lalique’s creative inspiration.
THE LALIQUE MUSEUM, A PROJECT SUPPORTED BY THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES
The Lalique Museum is supported by the various local and regional government bodies: la Région Alsace, the Conseil général du Bas-Rhin, the Communauté de Communes du Pays de La Petite Pierre and the Commune of Wingen-sur-Moder; these bodies formed an inter-municipal association in 2008 to manage the museum.
This association (le Syndicat mixte du Musée Lalique) financed the construction of the museum, with the French government and European Union also making major contributions.
The Lalique Museum has Pôle d’Excellence Rurale and Musée de France status and has benefitted from various territorial funding initiatives for the Massif des Vosges region.
Accessible to all
The museum has the «Tourisme et Handicap» label for the mentally and physically disabled
It is the aim of the Lalique Museum to be accessible to all those who desire to visit. Physical access has been made easy for wheelchairs and pushchairs, and a number of other initiatives have been taken to facilitate the visit and viewing of the exhibits.
The following are available on request:
- two wheelchairs, a walker and folding stools
- the texts are available in big letters on a white background
Visual guides may be hired in French, English, German, Alsatian and French sign language.17
MUSEUM OPENING HOURS
From 1 April to 30 September and December every day from 10 am to 7 pm
From February, March, October, November: from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm
The museum is closed on 25 December, 1 January and the month of January except for school holidays19
INDIVIDUAL ADMISSION
Museum or temporary exhibition €6
Reduced rate: €3
Family ticket: €14 (1 to 2 adults and 1 to 5 children under 18)
Children under 6 years old: free of charge
Combined museum + temporary exhibition admission €9
Reduced rate: €4.50
Family ticket: €21 (1 to 2 adults and 1 to 5 children under 18)
Children under 6 years old: free of charge
THE LALIQUE MUSEUM AND THE VOSGES DU NORD REGION
The Pays de La Petite Pierre
The Lalique Museum is located in the Pays de La Petite Pierre in the Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord, an exceptional region for walking and mountain biking, with a host of other fascinating places and museums to visit just a few kilometres away. With your admission to the museum you’ll be given a «visitor’s passport» indicating these places of interest:
- The Maisons des Rochers at Graufthal
- La Petite Pierre historic town centre
- The Musée du Sceau and Musée du Springerle at La Petite Pierre
- The Maison du Parc at La Petite Pierre
- The Relais des Arts at La Petite Pierre
- The Château de Lichtenberg
- The Struth Synagogue
- The Maison Suisse and Wimmenau oil mill
Musée Lalique
40 Rue du Hochberg
67290 Wingen-sur-Moder, France
+33 3 88 89 08 14
musee-lalique.com
See the Agenda>
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