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| | | | | Wildlife Glass Steins |  The variety of ways glass has been used is certainly due to the fact that it is a material that has been known and loved for thousands of years, and thus has received the attention of many innovative craftsmen. Glass steins dating from the 1530's and 1540's are known. A couple of examples that exist have large finials but no thumblifts. It seems possible that thumblifts, which became popular shortly thereafter, may have been finials displaced to make opening the lid easier.
Glass is the product of a silicic acid (often from sand) and an alkali (often from soda and ash). The combined ingredients must be brought to a temperature of about 1100°C (2000°F) in order to form a melt. The earliest glass steins were made using a long pipe, called a punty to remove a blob of glass from the furnace. This piece of glass was then pressed, spun, drawn, and/or blown into a cylindrical shape. The end was trimmed off, and the handle was formed and pressed into place. Such steins have continued to be popular to this day. Modern glass steins will carry an enameled design that was fired onto the stein. As with stoneware, there are still craftsmen who are making steins using some old glassmaking techniques.
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