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Its true origin is uncertain, but it is usually attributed to the ancient Egyptians, as the oldest objects made with this material – dated at 4,500 years old – were found in their territory. Glass is obtained by heating a mixture of silica (sand), caustic soda and salt at a high temperature of 1700°C until the three elements melt and then crystallize. At first, only massive blocks were manufactured until, around 2000 BC, small vessels began to be molded, pouring the glass mass into a clay mold. About 1,500 years later, the Egyptians began to make window glass as well. The dough was placed on a table with high edges, so that the material did not run, and smoothed with a rolling pin.
But it was the Babylonians who gave a big boost to this technology when they invented, in the second century BC, the blowing iron, an instrument that allows molding the material into the desired shape. In ancient Rome, small pieces of glass of different colors were cut and glued together to form mosaics. This technique would become the basis of the famous Venetian production, which, from the 13th century onwards, elevated glassmaking to a new artistic category.