Glass has been produced for thousands of years beginning with the Egyptians, primarily in the form of beads for ornamentation. The Phoenicians increased production to include drinking vessels. Glass steins in Europe, and particularly in Germany, date from the 15th century though larger production occurred in the 18th century. Glass steins from the 1700's and 1800's are generally blown and engraved pieces with pewter lids. Milk glass was introduced later and painted much in the style of faience steins. Enameled glass steins followed. Different minerals were used in glass making producing ruby red (gold was initially used to produce the color), cobalt blue, etc. By the mid-1800's, the wheel-cut overlay steins were laboriously produced. Different colors of glass were laid one over the other, with the engraver producing intricate geometric and floral designs when cutting through the different layers. Toward the end of the 1800's, molten glass was blown into molds which made glass steins more affordable.
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