Glass was first produced about 5000 years ago in the Middle East presumably as a development of pottery glazes.
The earliest blown glass is from the first century A.D. and was produced in the Eastern Mediterranean. The art of glass blowing spread rapidly over Europe, mostly within the Roman Empire, where many unsurpassed masterpieces were created. One of the earliest centres was situated around the Rhine Valley in what is now Germany and eastern France. Further expansion over Europe took place during the seventh century.
With the Middle Ages came a new period of expansion. Workshops appeared in many places around Europe, usually in woodland areas, where there was a plentiful supply of fuel for the killns. The characteristic green glass from this period is often called called "Waldglas" (Forest Glass). Glass vessels from the Middle Ages are often decorated with burls, glass thread and other decorations done directly in the workshop.
The first glass workshops in Sweden were started in the sixteenth century. The craftsmen consisted mainly of glass blowers from Italy, Germany and Holland.
It was not however until the eighteenth century that glass production gathered momentum, with important centres on Kungsholmen in Stockholm, Henrikstorp in Scania and Kosta in Småland.