Society of Glass Technology

For four days next September the Glass Community will foregather for the Annual Meeting of the Society of Glass Technology. The Venue is the University of Sheffield, which celebrates its centenary this year. In view of the distinguished contribution the University has long made to glass studies – it had the first Department devoted to Glass Technology – and its crucial emphasis on the application of glass studies for the benefit of society, the Society of Glass Technology is proud to contribute its programmes to the centenary celebration events. So we shall see eminent glass scientists mingle with new researchers, elder statesmen from the world of industry will challenge (and be challenged by) the insights of more junior colleagues. Artists will rub shoulders with scientists, marketeers will talk to designers and salesmen renew their controversies with production folk. People with very different backgrounds united by their strong interest in glass, participating in a programme under the title “Glass: Past, Present and Future”.

The History and Heritage Group study day will focus on the richness of our heritage of Glassmaking in England. Glassmaking in the widest sense has had its place in these islands since Roman times, responding to the demands of the market place and constantly evolving under the impetus of new artistic trends, new technologies, new pressures of competition, new possibilities for market success. Our knowledge of glassmaking history leans heavily on the efforts of historians and archaeologists, the finding and interpretation of glass objects and glassmaking sites in their contexts. Today’s science contributes strongly to that process, as it does to the business of protecting and restoring our legacy of glass heritage. The purpose of this History & Heritage day is to bring together these diverse strands of glass expertise in celebration of the glassmakers who, through the ages, have had such a signal impact on English culture and society.

The organisers wish to invite you to participate in this study day, and if possible to submit paper or a poster for discussion on the day. Oral presentations will be balanced in the programme by opportunities to meet and interact with other delegates, and there will be time allocated for poster authors to present their work less formally. The more posters we have, the richer will be the diet for the day, so we cordially invite contributions which bear on any aspect of the History and Heritage of Glass.

Conference Booking Details

Delegates attending the full SGT Conference are welcome to attend the History & Heritage Study Day without further charge, but delegates who wish to register for the Study Day only are most welcome. Full details may be obtained via the Web site at www.sgt.org

or by contacting the Conference Administrator.

Mrs Christine Brown,

Society of Glass Technology, Don Valley House,

Savile Street East, Sheffield S4 7UQ

Telephone: 01 142 634 455

Email: Christine@glass.demon.co.uk