A Brief Study on Tin in the Old Russian Lead Glass

Abstract

Lead is frequently accompanied by tin with extremely low content in lead glass, which was widely employed in medieval Russia, primarily during the pre-Mongolian period X-XIII cen., for the manufacture of artefacts, primarily bracelets. Tin is undoubtedly introduced into glass with lead, despite the fact that it is not a native impurity in lead ores.  The use of slag, mainly litharge with variable tin content from pewter alloying, is proposed for lead glass manufacture.Simultaneously, the question of whether slag production can meet the demand for lead glass fabrication remains unanswered.