Vial with a cap

A small glass vial with a cap. The vessel was manufactured by blowing into a form which gave the glass bubble the initial shape. Such items with form-based shapes, often additionally embellished through grinding and engraving, made of thick tinted glass were extremely popular in the 19th century. Many new colours and hues of the glass mass were introduced at that time. These included non-transparent glassware, often with mixed hues or colours which made the glass material resemble minerals or stones. This vial from the Wilanów collection was made of dark and light red glass mass. Red hyalith, as this material was usually called, was invented by Georg Franz August Longueval, count of Buquoy (1781–1851). He was a mathematician, a physicist, a chemist, a philosopher as well as an owner of several glass factories. It received the name of hyalith, inspired by the Greek word for “glass” (“hyalos”), from the very inventor of this technical novelty. In 1817, deeply black hyalith was produced and two years later red hyalith was obtained. The recipe was enhanced by adding trails in other hues, so as to make the products more similar to red minerals such as chalcedony and carnelian. The ready vessel was additionally embellished by gilding. This type of decoration was rarely seen on items made of red hyalith. The author was definitely an experienced painter, since the lines are very thin and precise. In the course of time, however, the gilding became abraded to a considerable extent.

Products made of black and red hyalith enjoyed enormous popularity since the invention of these materials. The popularity of hyalith, however, lasted for a relatively short period, i.e. until the 1840s, giving place to other types of glassware.