SUPPLIES OF RAW MATERIALS AND WOOD TO NØSTETANGEN
POT ASH, QUARTZ SAND, LIME AND LEAD OXIDE AND MANGANESE OXIDE
Quartz sand (SiO2) for the production of crystal has extremely strict requirements for a low iron content otherwise
the glass mass gets a green tinge. The quartz sand from waterways has too high an iron content.
Therefore, the quartz for Nøstetangen was taken from open pits on Solberg farm, burnt and crushed into fine sand.
This was necessary so that it could be fused with pot ash and lime.
A little manganese oxide was often added, which neutralized any iron content. Saltpetre was then added to oxidize the manganese oxide to the correct colour.
Pot ash is made from ash from burnt, dry birch wood.
In a solution with water, it is boiled down to a gray powder - raw pot ash. In this process, potassium carbonate (K2CO3) is extracted from the ash, but some ash is still included.
Raw pot ash is then mixed with cold water and filtered well, so that the remains of the ash are removed.
The mixture is boiled again and the result is a white powder that is used in the crystal quantity,
so-called calcined pot ash.
It is an alkaline substance and contributes to the fact that, together with quartz sand and lime, it can be melted at 1,200 – 1,300 ° C. (The melting point of quartz alone is approx. 1,700 ° C).
Lime (CaO) for the production of crystal was supplied from Stenberg farm, located approx. 3 km from Nøstetangen. The lime could be transported by boat, as the farm lies down to the river bed
Lead oxide (PbO) was added to give the crystal greater weight, better sound and good refraction properties – a sparkling light.
The recipe for the crystal mass was called "Möller's crystal composition" was named after the talented composer at Nøstetangen, the German Martin Möller .
By the suppliers Eiker:
Hildebrand Steinsrud
The son of Christopher Solberg delivered silicon in 1755 was probably most likely Anders Christophersen, who lived
on Hoenseie in 1765, but who took over Solberg after his father Christopher a couple of years later.
Ole Fossum
Sjur Homlebek
Trond Gorud
Jens Waalen
Nils Waalen
Christian Waalen
Ole Raaen
More information from GE Christiansen:
From 1748 onwards also Parish Priest Christian Grave vedleveränder_cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5c
From about 1755 Lieutenant Franz Mathiesen
The map shows the farms that were Nøstetangen glassworks' most important wood suppliers from around 1750:
Quartz sand
The place where the glassworks got quartz sand from for its glass production was found thanks to Jan Erik Skretteberg's research over several years. The glass mass used to make white glass consists of approx. 2/3 parts quartz sand.
To make crystal, which Nøstetangen was the first glassworks outside England to do, pure quartz was needed.
In 1755, the owner of Solberg farm was employed as a silicon miner at Det norske Kompani, with responsibility for the extraction, burning and crushing of quartz. Fragments of the story are found in a number of books and documents from the 18th century, but 7. May 2021, the quartz quarry was found with the help of a local acquaintance with a great interest in local history.
Quartz was also delivered from this quarry to Krystallhytta at Hurdal Glasværk, after Nøstetangen was closed.
The deliveries took place in winter with sledges and horses. The story is unique and gives a complete picture of Nøstetangen's important position in Norwegian glass history.
Found
After several years of searching in written documents (Hans Strøm's topographical description of Eiker,
GE Christiansen's book De Gamle Privilegerte Norske Glassverker and Christiania Glasmagasin,
Ada Buch Polak's book Gammelt Norsk Glass m.fl.) after the source for the raw material quartz sand which makes up
about. 67% of the amount of glass mass, finally managed to get in touch with a local acquaintance
with great interest in the Solberg vase and Nøstetangen, to find the source.
On Friday 7 May 2021, he detected the quartz quarry on the farm Solberg. It testifies to a major breach, however
after more than 200 years, it is largely overgrown with forest floor and trees. There are still quartz stones
in the surface in some places. Pictures of the place and quartz samples are secured.
Background / The importance of the find
After several years of extensive industrial espionage in England, by agent Morten Wærn, Nøstetangen succeeded
Glassworks to develop their own variant of the popular lead crystal that was only made in England.
But, to make a clear and pure crystal mass, one had to have quartz sand with extremely low iron content.
Such sand was difficult or impossible to find in Norway.
The solution was therefore to break quartz and crush it into sand to melt crystal mass. The owner on
In 1755, Solberg gård was employed by the board of Det norske Kompani as a silicon miner, with responsibility for mining.
of quartz, firing and crushing, so that it could be fused with potash and lime to an exquisite
crystal mass.
Thus, the above-mentioned discovery of quartz at a distance of a few kilometers to the glassworks was decisive for the work
success, which eventually came on par with the glassworks in England and Bohemia.
Hans Strøm mentions that quartz from the quarry at Solberg farm was delivered to Krystallhytta at Hurdal Værk
when this took over the production of small glass from Nøstetanten Glasværk.
