In our modern world, glass is an every day part of life, but this was not always so.
The elegant and ethereal medium known as “glass” is simply and basically made of sand, and or, silica and a flux; sodium or potassium.  These elements fuse together when melted at a very high temperature, resulting in the product readily recognised as glass.
Glass is an ancient invention, having been produced for the past 5000 years and particularly since the development of techniques in the 18th century.  The first glass makers were found in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, 5000 years ago with examples of this early glass surviving today.  At the time, it was seen as a very exotic product and study has shown that the simple techniques used were held as secret by those ancient artisans.
The first glass products were rather crude bottles and flasks, produced by moulding the basic shape from mud.  The modelled shape was held by inserting a short metal rod into one end with the shape then dipped into molten glass thus forming the "core" of the flask shape.  Long molten threads of glass, known as "canes", were then wound around this basic shape until the flask or bottle was complete...