Glass and Glassworking in Damascus during the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

• Published in: Journal of glass studies Vol. 56; pp. 201 - 217
• Main Author: Milwright, Marcus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Corning The Corning Museum of Glass 01.01.2014; Corning Museum of Glass
• Subjects: Artisans; Crafts; Crystals; Glass; Glass industry; Islamic art; Lamps; Plasters; Pottery; Windows
• ISSN: 0075-4250

This article collects textual sources and artifacts as evidence for glassworking in Damascus in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The main focus is a group of descriptions of glass-related crafts in an Arabic text titled Qāmūs al-ṣināʿāt al-shāmiyya (Dictionary of Damascene crafts), written in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. Examples of the products of these craft practices are sought in the collection of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art at Shangri La in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final section places the evidence in a wider economic context, with particular reference to the importation of European glass to the Middle East. The conclusion reflects upon the ways in which traditional Syrian crafts, including glassworking, adapted themselves to the increasingly challenging economic climate in the late Ottoman and Mandate periods.