HELP! Research Project Question

[Bongers]

I'm working on a research project that deals with smashed European bottles in northern Chile. I'm going to perform micro probe analysis on the bottles, which will identify the chemical formula of each the bottles. I plan on using this information to find out the manufacturer and the date of manufacturer but I have a couple questions. Does the chemical composition or "recipe" of antique bottles differ? For example, is the chemical composition of a late nineteenth century Dutch bottle different from a late nineteenth century English bottle? Do you know any books that talk about the chemical composition of bottles? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[JOETHECROW]

[]I'm no expert, but I would think the sand used in the glass batch would be a key component in that kind of experiment...
Joe
P.S. Try Red Matthews on here,...he seems to have alot of background and good info on glass manufacture.

 

[GuntherHess]

Specific glass formulas were guarded secrets of the glass factories so you may have a tough task. In general the glass is obviously going to be influenced by the materials (both local and imported) available at the time.
Let us know what you find out.

 

[amblypygi]

The main component in glass is of course the silica in sand, but they added a lot of other chemicals to change the strength, color, etc. I think that a microprobe analysis of shards will be interesting and your data will be a valuable resource eventually. My one suggestion would be that, rather than starting with the unknown shards from Chile, I would solicit known shards from glasshouse sites and work backwards from there. I know that many people on the forum have shards that can be positively associated with some of the New England, Ohio and New Jersey glasshouses, or at least to these glassmaking areas. I'm sure that there are collectors in the EU and the UK who could also do the same for the European glasshouses. It sounds like a great project, let us know when you publish it.

Some papers that might help:

Title: A History of English Glassmaking, AD 43-1800
Author(s): Tyson R
Source: MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY Volume: 51 Pages: 359-360 Published: 2007

Title: Scientific Investigation of a Venetian Polychrome Goblet of the 16th Century
Author(s): Verita M, Zecchin S
Source: JOURNAL OF GLASS STUDIES Volume: 50 Pages: 105-+ Published: 2008

 

[amblypygi]

There were a bunch more papers that would be helpful, but I somehow got into a mess cutting and pasting them into the forum post. You should definitely look into that Journal of Glass Studies anyway; they seem to publish a lot of stuff of an archaeological nature.

Sean

 

[Bongers]

Thanks for your help amblypygi!
Here are the links to the shards that I'm studying:
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-211073/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#211172

https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-207147/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#207147

https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-211132/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#211132