Corning Museum of Glass

On Thursday, Terry and Vicky and Clara set off for Corning, NY for the Corning Museum of Glass, while I sat in the campground and worked on pictures and e-mails, etc.

They spent the entire open day (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) in the museum, seeing everything from antiquities to modern art in glass. Much to our surprise, glass was first "made" around 1500 B.C.E. although how it was discovered that one could make glass is apparently a total mystery. The first picture shows some pieces dated to that era; the pieces are quite small, and are generally vessels, either for perfume storage or for drinking. The second one is old, though not that old. The next pictures are of some contemporary pieces, and interestingly for the Seattleites amongst us, many of these are related to the Pilchuk School. The Tiffany window is approximately 12 feet by 14 feet and came from some socialites home. In the chess set, the black pieces are Jewish persons while the white are Christian, but since the maker came from a Jewish/Christian home, no sectarian slurs are intended. Note the detail on the pieces.