This is an introduction to the history of glass, based on the V&A Museum's collection, providing comprehensive coverage, documentary pieces and famous masterpieces. Starting with the dawn of vessel glass-making in the second-millennium BC and ending with the work of contemporary artists, the story of glass unfolds in words and pictures. Highlights include preserved glass from Ancient Egypt and Rome, pieces from the Islamic world, masterpieces of Venetian Renaissance glass, and Baroque and Rococo glass from Europe. Also featured is the V&A's collection of British lead-crystal glass of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass of Galle and Lalique, and the work of 20th-century artists and factories from the UK, Europe and the USA. All types of glass are covered - drinking vessels, exhibition pieces, decorative vases and works by contemporary glass artists - and techniques, such as blowing and engraving, are comprehensively explained. Special sections on subjects, such as tableware, chandeliers and lighting, an mosque lamps, are illustrated with engravings, paintings and designs, as well as pieces from the V&A's wide ranging collection, complete this account of the social and cultural uses of glass.