No one really knows when, or where glass was first made but since antiquity, as a material, it has had an important place and impact on many different cultures. It has also been utilized in many different forms. From exotic Egyptian jewellery to a product for vanity at Venice or for toasting exalted beauties and life in eighteenth century England. More lately in our own time in industry its properties and uses in medical science and space research are extending its properties, which only adds to the mystique surrounding it.

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When I was in Sydney recently for the antique fair I also visited the Redfern Municipal Electric Light Station a smart Sydney establishment where Martyn Cook Antiques displays an amazing selection of the rare and wonderful for collectors and connoisseurs to consider. It was an unusual box, known as a tea caddy that caught my eye.

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Professor David O’Connor and Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill have spent a great deal of time excavating and conserving the sites of Abydos in Egypt and Herculaneum in Italy respectively. Both continue to yield spectacular discoveries invaluable to classical historians and the world at large.

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Mrs. Wallis Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor, was an enthusiast of jewellery, fashion and the prevailing modern style. The stunning jewellery fashioned for her by Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Belperron and Harry Winston and given to her in love by her Prince, King, or was it a Duke, inscribed ‘My Wallis from her David’ says it all. What more could any woman want than a man who would give up being a King for love.

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The survey starts with the emergence of ancient societies discussing the development of architecture gardens and costume. We highlight the ancient Egyptians who were pioneers in the art of adornment, especially the creation of jewellery.

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