The Production and Composition of Chinese Lead-Barium Glass through Experimental Laboratory Replication

• Sodium is essential for lead-barium glass forming. Previous chemical analysis of ancient underestimates the sodium content. Opaque cannot be produced during primary production. Lead-barium can by mixing natron with lead and barium minerals. appeared late Warring States period in China (457 - 221 BCE) was considered as a Chinese invention due to unique presence high barium. There no indication how it made. A set twenty-four different combinations possible raw materials were melted test systematically evaluate recipes glass. Specifically, function source explored. The results show that crucial forming this particular system. This paper explores an alternative formulation since flux not reported historical sources, which Na 2 O provided including soda-lime mixture. provides potential explanation