conservation

research & diagnosis

vulnerabilities in glass

degradation

history

Atmospheric degradation was formerly known as ‘glass disease’ or ‘glass plague’, amid fears that glass objects could infect one another. This crumpled note found with an unstable glass object was probably intended to reassure concerned observers.


Note from the late 20th century found in a glass object from the collection of Paleis ’t Loo   PHOTO M. Slager

The note reads
Ritsema van Eck zegt:
glas-pest! is niet besmettelijk,
komt van een foute samenstelling v.h. glas.
deksel hoort er wel bij.

‘Ritsema van Eck says:
glass plague! isn’t contagious,
it occurs in an incorrect composition of the glass,
the lid does belong with it.’

Pieter C. Ritsema van Eck was a glass historian, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam curator and prolific author on glass who was a prominent figure in the glass-history field.