
Examples of opaque core-formed glass are on display alongside blown-glass vessels at the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum. Core-formed vessels (the opaque vessels with striped patterns) were first made in Mesopotamia and Egypt, with the earliest objects dating from the late 16th and 15th centuries BCE. Transparent glass blown vessels were first produced only by the 1st century BCE.
Poet’s Statement
The poem “Glass” was based off the ancient Egyptian glass. This glass was made via a core-forming method rather than the glass blowing method. The difference in methods and use for the glass intrigued me and led to the poem “Glass.”
Glass
Dipped in molten flames
Covered in spindles
Of glossy sugar
Earth in its core.
A perfect mold
A perfect center
Shaped against
Cold cool metal.
A centerpiece
Opaque and delicate.
A decoration
Just for sale.