Notice of the manufacture of glass in Bohemia

Abstract

The major and trace composition of a series of 16th century glass fragments, originating from the ruins of different 15–17th century castle sites in the neighborhood of Ljubljana (Slovenia) was determined. The resulting compositions are compared to those obtained from archaeological glass finds originating from Ljubljana city center, Antwerp (Belgium) and Venice (Italy). In these urban centers, historic documents describe the existence of a flourishing glass making and working industry in the 16th century. Electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPXMA) combined with microscopic synchrotron induced X-ray fluorescence (μ-SRXRF) was used to analyze the glasses from the Slovenian castles and from Antwerp while ion beam analysis (proton induced X-ray and γ-emission PIXE/PIGE) was used for the Ljubljana samples. A comparison of the major glass compositions of the latter glass samples obtained by means of EPMA and the ion beam methods revealed that the differences between the two sets of data are generally smaller than 10%, except in the case of concentrations smaller than 1% w/w where typical values of 20% of relative deviation are encountered. In contrast to Antwerp, where both local and Venetian glass compositions are encountered, the Ljubljana and Slovenian castle glasses feature a composition that closely resembles that of Venetian vitrum blanchum glass.