Ancient Chinese glass

In Chinese history, glass played a peripheral role in arts and crafts, when compared to ceramics and metal work.

[7] At present, it is accepted that in China, glassmaking began around the 5th century BCE during the late Spring and Autumn to early Warring States periods.

The coloured glasses used to produce the Chinese eye beads have a high lead and barium content.

This type of composition was exclusive to China, and it was used to produce a range of glass objects until the end of the Han dynasty.

Table 1: Elemental compositions of Chinese glass from the Warring States period to Han dynasty.

The layers of different colour glass are applied in alternating fashion to produce concentric circles.

This is believed to be a result of the invasion of Chu kingdom territories by Qin and Han armies at the end of the 3rd century.

During the Warring States and Han periods, Chinese glassworkers took advantage of the similarities between glass and jade.

[16] These objects have similar shapes to their jade counterparts, and were no doubt imitating that precious stone.

Among these objects there were bi disks, 'glass garments' (or glass suits), sword accessories, and vessels, among others.

The earliest archeological specimens were carved from stone (usually nephrite) and date back to the late Neolithic period; they became important burial elements during the 3rd millennium BC.

[22] The glass bi disks look very similar to their stone contemporaries, usually decorated on one side with a simple grain or cloud pattern typical of jade objects.

They are mainly found in medium to small-sized tombs, indicating the middle strata of society rather than the elite.

Some of these rectangular pieces have perforations in 4 corners, indicating that they were strung together, or sewn into a fabric, to form a protective burial suit.