Where the faceted glass came from is not known for certain. There are several versions on this score. According to one of them, this article of tableware began to be made in Russia in the time of Peter the Great. Allegedly glassmaker Efim Smolin from the glorious city of Vladimir presented the autocrat with his invention, assuring the emperor that the faceted glass does not break. Alekseich, taking a sip from the novelty of hop (the glass was not empty), grabbed him on the stone floor, shouting at the same time:
"Glass to be!". The glass container immediately shattered into a thousand fragments. True, the king at the same time had mercy and did not punish the glass-blower-trickster. And later, the rumor of the people changed the royal phrase, said drunk, to another: "To beat glasses."
According to another version, which lacks such dramatic details, faceted glasses in the reign of Peter began to be produced in the city of Gus-Khrustalny. But whether the emperor drunk of them or not, the story is silent about this. Only one thing is certain: neither in the eighteenth nor in the nineteenth century the faceted glass did not leave its image. ANYWHERE! There is none in the paintings of artists, and there are no descriptions in the works of literature.
For the first time, the image of a faceted glass was documented in the painting “Morning Still Life” (1918), owned by the famous artist Kuzma Sergeyevich Petrov-Vodkin (oh, what a magnificent name, to match the object depicted in a still life!). True, there was tea in that faceted glass in the picture.
Why is a faceted glass preferable to a round one? Well, firstly, it is really much stronger. So, the semi-mythical Yefim Smolin was not so wrong, having told the king that the glass was not breaking. Secondly, it is much less disposed to ride on the table, being laid on its side.
Supporters of the appearance of a faceted glass in Peter's time amicably appealing to this circumstance - they say that the tsar, famous for his sea hobbies, could not pass by such an invention, which was very useful during pitching. But it is not known exactly whether it was so in reality or in a slightly different way.
Even if a faceted glass appeared in the last years of the Russian Empire, the novelty received a creative interpretation during the years of Soviet power, perhaps becoming even an element of Russian folklore. About the holiday "Two hundred years of faceted glass", I hope everyone heard?
The classic Soviet faceted glass was released on September 11, 1943, when the release of this product with modern dimensions was launched in Gus-Khrustalny. Glasses were produced with a different number of faces - from twelve to eighteen in increments of two units. An exception is a seventeen-sided glass, but this is rare, since it is technologically simpler to make glasses with an even number of faces.
This product has long been replicated by both domestic industry and works of art (as an image, of course). And yet - what kind of faceted glass is it? How many grams (more precisely, not grams, of course, but milliliters) fit in this symbol of the era? Let's try to figure it out.
The faceted glass could have a different volume , but the classic one contained two hundred and fifty milliliters (if flush with the edges) and two hundred - if poured to the upper boundary of the faceted surface. Even Elena Mukhina, the famous sculptor, author of Worker and Collective Farm Girl, had a hand in the design of a masterpiece of the glass industry. In any case, this is a purely domestic invention. And, undoubtedly, the same symbol of Russia as a nesting doll, balalaika and a bear. They released it in incredible quantities. The army, health care facilities and catering - even if you take into account only these three large customers, it becomes clear that the faceted glass is truly a folk dish.