Gold Ruby Glass
Fourth century Roman glassmakers stumbled into the creation of dichroic ruby glass by mistakenly adding silver and gold dust to a glass batch. This coveted “gold-ruby” glass did not become reliably reproducible until the late 17rth century, when Johann Kunckel developed the first recipe.
Glass in the Baroque tradition was equal parts alchemy, mysticism, and philosophy. The transformation of gold into ruby glass was nothing short of alchemy in its truest form. Purple of Cassius, a gold solution used in the preparation of ruby glass, was produced by dissolving gold and aqua regia (“royal water”). This process was referred to by contemporaries as sol sine vesta “--unclothing gold” or “undressing the sun”—as it allowed the seemingly immutable nature of gold to be further purified.
By 1883, Arthur J. Nash had written a recipe for gold and ruby glass, safeguarded in a locked diary. His formulas followed those of the precious stone itself with the richest shade being “pigeon’s blood.” The highest quality of ruby in the ancient Burmese system of classification.
Gold Ruby Glass
Fourth century Roman glassmakers stumbled into the creation of dichroic ruby glass by mistakenly adding silver and gold dust to a glass batch. This coveted “gold-ruby” glass did not become reliably reproducible until the late 17rth century, when Johann Kunckel developed the first recipe.
Glass in the Baroque tradition was equal parts alchemy, mysticism, and philosophy. The transformation of gold into ruby glass was nothing short of alchemy in its truest form. Purple of Cassius, a gold solution used in the preparation of ruby glass, was produced by dissolving gold and aqua regia (“royal water”). This process was referred to by contemporaries as sol sine vesta “--unclothing gold” or “undressing the sun”—as it allowed the seemingly immutable nature of gold to be further purified.
By 1883, Arthur J. Nash had written a recipe for gold and ruby glass, safeguarded in a locked diary. His formulas followed those of the precious stone itself with the richest shade being “pigeon’s blood.” The highest quality of ruby in the ancient Burmese system of classification.