Introduction -- Wonder and desire : the glass was most beautiful -- New notions of seeing : mirrors and lenses -- Panes of glass : windows and paintings -- Diplomatic overtures : the Daren (great personage) from the Vatican -- Glass : "pieces as beautiful as our aventurine" -- Cristalli : four cases of precious glass -- "White gold" : a magical substance -- Enamel materials : a technological transfer -- Carrying treasure to China : the Albion.

"In this study, Emily Byrne Curtis explores as her subject lenses, spectacles, aventurine glass, and windows found in China from the sixteenth century. She traces their technological development back to the glassworks in Murano, Venice, and explores their significance in terms of Venice's commerce with China." "Because glassware also figured among the gifts which three papal legates from the Vatican presented to the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors, the author examines many documents from the archives in Rome and the Vatican; the study therefore touches, to an extent, on the history of the Catholic Church in China. Curtis also discusses in the volume some contemporary Chinese references and verses to European glassware, and in the case of enamel materials, she discloses the pronounced effect their use had upon the decor of Chinese porcelains."--Jacket.

From the outset of the French mission to China, scientific and cultural pursuits were envisioned and playing a large role. In 1696, a glass workshop was established as a division of the imperial ateliers. It was built on a piece of land next to the French Jesuits' church, which was situated within the walls of the Imperial City, and placed under their care. The glass workshop continued to develop and production at it reached its zenith during the Qianlong period (r. 1735-1796). However, when missionary glass artisans, such as Pierre d'Incarville, and Léonard de Brossard, were no longer associated with the workshop, the quality of its wares began to decline. At the turn of the century, the mission in China sank almost to extinction, and by 1827, all activity at the glassworks had ceased. In 1998, the existence of a Chinese plan for this glass workshop was revealed in an inventory of documents from the Lazarist mission to Beijing. Therefore, the topic of this paper is a study of this plan and the glassmaking activities associated with it.

Local access dig.pdf. [Curtis-Glassworks.pdf]