Milk glass mug

27 glass pieces were discovered in the west part of the territory of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in the Vilnius Lower Castle in a layer that dates back to the late 16th – early 17th century. Almost half of a white mug with rectangular handle was recreated out of these pieces. The most interesting part of this simple cylindrical mug is it‘s opaque white color.
There are findings of colorful glass from Old Egypt as well as Mesopotamia, romans were also fond of this white glass, yet the technology was forgotten for quite a long time. It found its way back into fashion in the Renaissance epoch in Venice, when porcelain became very trendy in Europe, so the white glass would be used as a more economical substitute for the pricey Chinese material. The author of this reinvention in the 15th century is considered to be craftsman from Murano Island – Angelo Barovier. He started making colorful glass using tin, antimony or arsenic oxides, later known by the name ‘milk glass’. The name is from Italian lattimo, meaning ‘milk’.
In the late 16th century an economic crisis found its way into Venice, so the glass crafters had to move to other countries in order to find work, therefore the knowledge of this technology spread all throughout Europe. In the middle of 19th century milk glass items became popular amongst the French elite. Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, following the trends set by the French aristocrats, this fashion spread to other countries as well. Lovers and collectors of milk glass creations founded clubs, National Milk Glass Collectors Society was established in the USA.
The origins of this mug are unknown, yet it is known that similar mugs were popular in North and East European countries for drinking non-heavy alcohol drinks.