L'Art Vetraire de Jean Bonhomme

L'Art Vetraire de Jean Bonhomme

Jean Bonhomme, a seventeenth-century master glassmaker from Liège, revealed the secrets in an imposing manuscript, which also instructs how to build glass furnaces and describes the social order in the closed-shop world of glassmaking.

The full transcription and in-depth study of the unpublished manuscript of Jean Bonhomme's Art Vetraire bring to life their history and work accompanied with illustrations from Belgian museums and collections. Half of the Bonhomme’s manuscript consists of the very first translation of Neri's Arte Vetraria, and the other half contains technical descriptions of the glassmaking furnaces of Liège, the management of the glassworks and their commercial organization.

This scientific and didactic work covers the history of techniques, economic and social history, as well as the history of the decorative arts. It is illustrated with numerous photos of pieces from the "Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire" and other museums in Belgium and abroad, as well as objects from archaeological excavations, etc.

In association with the publication, for those interested in learning more about glass in Liège, a conference on the subject will take place at the Grant Curtius Museum on 17th March.