Humans have been making glass for over three thousand years, and unless you drop it, glass is the sort of material that stays around for quite a long time. So if one is diligent enough, they can often find something old and quite cool at a vintage stop. At the same time, artisans from across the world still regularly make things out of glass.

So we’ve gathered some of the coolest and most interesting glasswork items people have made or found and posted online. Get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own thoughts in the comments section down below.

#1 Sea Glass Cat In Sea Colors. Finally Got To Make A Piece Of My Dream 🙂

#2 Sea Glass Pictures My Daughter Made

#3 A Little Bit Of My Collection Of Sea Glass. 10 Years Of Collecting!

Nature was the original glass artist long before humans ever stepped onto the scene. When lightning strikes a sandy beach it generates enough heat to fuse grains into fragile and spindly tubes known as fulgurites.

Volcanic eruptions also produce obsidian which is a naturally occurring volcanic glass that ancient civilizations used for sharp knives and ritual objects. It took humans a very long time to figure out how to replicate these fiery accidents. Around three thousand five hundred years ago people in Mesopotamia began experimenting with silica and soda and lime to create their own versions of this shimmering material.

#4 My Cousin Passed Away, And I Just Want Yall To See How Talented He Was

#5 Please Rate From 1 To 10 The Uranium Glass Frog Figurines That I Crafted Myself

#6 1930s Japanese Bird Light Bulb Found At An Old Dump Site

These early glassworkers were not blowing bubbles yet. Instead they used a technique called core forming where they wound hot glass around a shaped center of clay and sand. It was a tedious and difficult process that resulted in thick and colorful beads or tiny jars that only the wealthiest members of society could afford.

#7 Had To Show Off This Beautiful Murano Sommerso Ashtray I Purchased From An Antique Dealer Buddy

#8 Unpacking Boxes From My Grandmas Attic. Found This. Amethyst Color. 💜

#9 How You Like Dem Apples?

The true revolution occurred around the first century before the common era in the region of Syria. Some anonymous genius discovered that a hollow iron pipe could be used to pick up a molten gathering of glass and inflate it with human breath. This invention of glassblowing changed the world forever because it allowed artisans to create vessels much faster and in much thinner forms.

#10 Thrifted For $1.99

#11 My Collection Of Glass Fruit That Has All Been Thrifted In The Last Year

#12 A ‘Unicorn Find’ Victorian Uranium Glass Epergne

The Roman Empire recognized the potential of this new technology immediately and they spread glasswork to every corner of their territory. For the first time in history glass became a common household item rather than a rare treasure. The Romans were also the first to experiment with window glass though it was often quite bumpy and difficult to see through clearly.

#13 My New Favorite Modern, Glass Artist, Henry Levine With Thorn Ridge Studios “Starry Night”. Paid $20.00 For The Pitcher And 3 Glasses. Signed And Dated 2002. The Last Photo Has A Light In It

#14 I Can’t Believe I Picked This Up At Goodwill Last Week!

#15 Cannot Believe My Luck. The Antique Store Booth Had This Marked As Fenton And Was Selling It For $35. In Actuality, It Was Made By The MT. Washington Glass Company Circa 1880-1890

As the centuries rolled on, the island of Murano near Venice became the most prestigious center for glass production in the world. In the year twelve ninety one the Venetian government forced all glassmakers to move their furnaces to the island to protect the city from fire and to keep their trade secrets under lock and key.

#16 What’s The Point Of Collecting If You Can’t Be Silly?

#17 Picked This Up And Thought It Was Super Cool! Thought I’d Share

#18 Murano Glass

This was given to my daughter in law from a housemate whose mom commissioned it from the artist in Italy at least 3 decades ago.

Murano glassblowers were essentially prisoners of their own talent because leaving the island without permission was a crime punishable by death. These artisans developed cristallo which was a nearly colorless glass that mimicked natural rock crystal. They invented the first real mirrors and created incredibly intricate patterns by embedding colored canes of glass into clear forms.

#19 Just Filled The Cabinet I Inherited From My Late Grandmother

#20 Bought This A While Back, Finally Installed It On My Nightstand

#21 My New Rainbow Shelf

While the Venetians were busy perfecting clarity and decoration an English entrepreneur named George Ravenscroft was tinkering with the chemistry of glass in the late seventeenth century. He added lead oxide to the recipe and created what we now call lead crystal. This new material was heavier and softer and it had a much higher refractive index than standard glass. This meant it sparkled brilliantly when cut and it became the gold standard for luxury dinnerware across Europe. At the same time the French were perfecting the casting of plate glass which allowed for the creation of massive mirrors like those found in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

#22 Assorted Glass Ashtrays And Catchalls I’ve Thrifted

#23 My Le Smith Moon And Stars + Fairy Lamp Collection 🖤 I’m Really Proud Of It!!

#24 Was Looking For A Cabinet To Store My Current Glass Collection. This One Comes With A Large Fenton Blue Hobnail Collection!

The transition from hand crafted art to industrial powerhouse happened during the nineteenth century. Before this time every single bottle was blown by hand and human lungs were the only power source available. That changed when Michael Owens invented the automatic bottle machine in nineteen hundred and three. This machine could produce thousands of identical bottles in a single hour which completely revolutionized the packaging and beverage industries. This shift made glass incredibly cheap and accessible but some feared that the soul of the craft was being lost to the gears of the factory.

#25 My Sea Glass Marble Collection!

#26 I Found A Uranium Slug!

#27 Uranium Glass Chandelier At 21c Museum Hotel In Kansas City

In the middle of the twentieth century the Studio Glass Movement emerged to bring the art back to the individual artist. Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino hosted workshops at the Toledo Museum of Art in nineteen sixty two to prove that glass could be melted in small furnaces. This meant that artists no longer had to work in large industrial settings to create their pieces.

#28 I Am Now The Incredibly Proud Owner Of This Awesome L. E. Smith Cabbage Dish!!!!

#29 My Charcoal Blues

#30 Our Viking Candy Dish Collection

Glass finally broke free from its identity as a purely functional material and became a respected medium for fine art. Today we use glass in ways the ancients never could have imagined from the tiny fiber optic cables that transmit data across the globe to the heat resistant tiles on spacecraft. The history of glass is a story of turning common sand into something extraordinary through the power of heat and imagination and it remains one of the most versatile substances on our planet.

#31 Former Glass Factory’s River Finds

#32 Guinea Pig + Uranium Glass

#33 When Life Gives You Broken Uranium Glass, Make Art!

#34 I Dropped Everything When I Spotted It At The Thrift

#35 Saw This At My Local Thrift Store

#36 My Collection Of Boyd Sly The Foxes! They Are Pretty Hard To Find So I Am Quite Proud Of What I Have So Far

#37 7 Lb Piece

#38 Got A Bunch Of A Light Purple Glass As A Gift And Finally Made True A Dream Of Making A Wisteria Branch

#39 My First Ever Sea Glass Art

#40 Mini Mug I Made This Morning

#41 Found On The Beach. Anything Special?

#42 Just When I Thought, “Eh Theres No Seaglass Here Today” I Found This

#43 Best Find Yet! 📍 NJ Shore

#44 Uranium Glass Jewelry

#45 Someone Dumped Their Entire Milk Glass Collection At Goodwill

#46 Plum Collection Fenton

#47 Mini Glass Hens Found While Cleaning Out Gmas Garage

#48 Snagged At Goodwill

#49 Found A 120 Year Old Vaseline Jar At The Beach

#50 Amberina Sea Glass Stopper, From Northern California. One Of My Best Finds Ever!

#51 Very Rare Milifiori Sea Glass

#52 Sharing Some Of My Cobalt Glass Collection

#53 Found In An Old Farm Dump In The 1960s

#54 Found This Hiding At An Estate Today!

#55 Today’s Score

#56 Scored Some Shrooms Today!

#57 Cranberry Hobnail

#58 One Of My Luckiest Finds

#59 My Thrifted Goblet Collection

#60 Unfortunately Going Through My Grandmothers Things And She Has A Lot Of This. What Is It?

#61 My Favorite Shelf

#62 Fenton Glass Duck

#63 My Grandmother Left This For Me After She Passed Away. My Search On Google Didn’t Find It. Anyone Know Anything This Piece?

#64 Christmas Guest Broke A Vintage Crystal Wine Glass (And Threw Up On Our Back Porch Before His Irish Goodbye)

#65 I Thrifted This Three Tier Cake Stand. I Don’t Really Collect Glass, Could This Be Le Smith? I Can’t Find Any Images Or Links To Blue Glass Like This With All Three Tiers

#66 My Late Father’s Collection

#67 Grandma’s Window

#68 Beautiful Lamp I Found At A Thrift Store

#69 Found In The Wild

#70 Made This Little Fox From White And Green Sea Glass 🦊 🦊 🦊

#71 I Made Some Cocktails & Drinks With My Tiniest Sea Glass Pieces

#72 My Coolest Find Yet!

#73 Purple Orange Slice

#74 Perfect Cobalt Blue Jewel ✨

#75 Christmas Gifts For My Loved Ones 🙂

#76 Some Of My Favorite Pieces Of Sea Glass In Their Vintage Display Bowls

#77 My Mom Knows I Love Uranium Glass, So She Bought Me This Adorable Rat From Ukraine

#78 The Uranium Gods Smiled Upon Thee Today

#79 Found A Piece The Shop Didn’t Know What It Was – Guess What I Paid!

The shop had numerous UG displays but didn’t notice this one! Had it priced at just $45. I’m pretty sure the clerk selling it knew what kind of a steal that was.