Blown glass in Ukraine: Historical and technological features in comparison with Murano and Bohemian glass traditions
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the historical and technological characteristics of Ukrainian blown glass through a comparative analysis of Ukrainian, Murano, and Bohemian glassmaking traditions. The article examines the development of glass production in Ukrainian lands from the sixteenth century to the twentieth century and evaluates its place within the broader context of European glassmaking. The research is based on methods of historical analysis, comparative technological analysis, and material culture studies. The source base includes historical, archaeological, archaeometric, and art-historical publications devoted to glassmaking technologies, forest glassworks, artistic glass production, and the preservation of traditional manufacturing knowledge. Particular attention is paid to the technological aspects of glass production, including raw materials, glass compositions, furnace technologies, manufacturing practices, and mechanisms of technological knowledge transmission. The study demonstrates that Ukrainian blown glass developed under conditions significantly different from those that shaped the Murano and Bohemian traditions. Unlike the highly regulated and centralized production system of Murano, Ukrainian glassmaking evolved through a decentralized network of forest glassworks dependent on local resources and empirical knowledge. In contrast to the increasingly standardized and export-oriented Bohemian model, Ukrainian hutas remained closely connected to regional markets and adapted production technologies to local environmental and economic conditions. The research shows that the technological characteristics of Ukrainian blown glass, including chemical variability, visible inclusions, colour variations, and irregular forms, were direct consequences of the production environment and should be interpreted as material evidence of historical manufacturing processes rather than solely as indicators of technological limitations. The article further analyses the transformation of huta traditions during the twentieth century. It is demonstrated that many technological practices associated with historical forest glassworks survived within artistic glass production, educational institutions, and professional communities. As a result, huta technologies gradually evolved from a regional manufacturing system into a form of technological and cultural heritage. The study concludes that Ukrainian blown glass should be regarded as a distinct historical and technological trajectory within European glassmaking rather than as a peripheral variant of the Murano or Bohemian traditions. The comparative analysis highlights the diversity of technological solutions that coexisted in European glass production and contributes to a broader understanding of the relationship between technology, craft knowledge, natural resources, and cultural development in the history of material technologies.
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