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The History of Bohemian Crystal

Regarded as one of the finest crystal in the world, Bohemian crystal is glass blown with diamond tools using traditional methods. According to LuxeMagazine.org, an on-line luxury product magazine, one of the advantages to Bohemian glass is its thin, shining, liquid-like quality and expert craftsmanship. For centuries, and into modern times, the crystal design and Bohemian resources created a superior glass prized around the world, making its debut in ports from Venice to Baltimore and New York to Cairo.

  1. First Discovery

    • According to CzechCrystalGlass.com, the oldest discovery of glass beads within the Czech Republic dates from the early Bronze Age, when this territory was populated by Celts who knew the technology of glass making and enamel. Archaeological testimony confirms that glass beads were very popular in those times.

    Ancient History

    • Bohemian crystal dates back to ancient times. According to PhoenixCrystal.com, a company that sells Bohemian crystal exclusively, Bohemia started producing blown glass in the 3rd century BC. However, the earliest examples archaeologists have found of the ancient glass are in Moravia (western, modern Czech Republic) and Slovakia, both settled by Slavic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries.

    First Written Record

    • In 1276, a monastery used the thin, colored, painted crystal for glass windows. A written record exists from that 13th century transaction. However, Bohemian glass did not become an actual thriving industry until the late 14th century. Founded in 1414, a small Bohemian trading route town just south of the northern German border, Chribska, became the first working glass factory in the world.

    Seventeenth Century

    • Engraving allowed buyers to request special designs and family crests.

      According to Portobello.com, an Australian antiques and collectibles website, Bohemia was the first country to challenge the domination of Venetian in glass. Bohemia, with plentiful resources of white sands and thick forests, made it easy for glass makers to find fuel and potash to produce the crystal.

    Competition

    • According to PragueExperience.com, at the beginning of the 18th century, Bohemian Glass led the world’s glass market. Business centers called Bohemian houses settled in the 12 biggest European cities, 38 European ports and outside of Europe in Beirut, Smyrna, Cairo, Baltimore, Mexico, New York.

    Black Glass & Glass Decoration

    • Bohemian glass-makers produced stained glass in the early nineteenth century.

      In the 1820s, after the close of the Napoleonic Wars, colored glass became exceptionally prized and coveted throughout Europe. While Bohemian glass makers had produced their signature ruby-colored glass since the late 1600s, Bohemian glass artist Friedrich Egermann created the world's first black glass. Emulated by French manufacturers, the nearly opaque ebony glass, mottled with vibrant colors, was the first of its kind. Egermann patented the glass as lithyalin. From 1815, decorated glass made Bohemia the leader in European glass-making.

    Nineteenth Century & Modern Glass

    • In 1861, Josef Schreiber, a Viennese glassware business man, founded the first grinding plant in Svetla and Sazavou (now called Svetla) in what is now the modern day Czech Republic. With glass gathered from neighboring glass-makers, the Svetla factory employed about 80 personnel after its first 10 years. According to PhoenixCrystal.com, the start of the 20th century was regarded as the golden age of Bohemian crystal.

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