Some copies of an almost emerald green have changed hands in good faith as Waterford glass. How could green be produced from lead oxide, potash, soda, and silica?--for this is the analysis of an early piece of Waterford "pot metal" glass of the dark grey hue. =THE INCREASING POPULARITY OF IRISH GLASS= The multitude of fakes on the market bears testimony to the increasing demand for Irish glass. During the last six years, those members of the public who have a knowledge of glass have realised more and more the value of the genuine Irish article, which, of course, is due to the fact that it cannot be copied sufficiently well to deceive the connoisseur. The direct outcome of this is a steady increase in the market value, and rare specimens, which were made at from 25s. to £4, now readily fetch anything from £10 to £400; in fact, a single piece sold recently for £750, and a beautiful bowl passed through my hands at £550; while only a few months ago a chandelier was sold at an Irish auction for £1,218. Magnificent specimens of Irish glass have found their way into English collections, as will be seen by the plates shown in this book. Photographs of most of the well-known pieces in the Dublin Museum, and in private Irish houses, have already been reproduced in various publications; but the accompanying photographs are of exceptional specimens, taken exclusively from _English_ collections, and a very large number of them has passed through my own hands. EXPERIENCE ESSENTIAL. It is absolutely impossible to become a sound judge of Irish glass without years of experience, and, above all, without the constant actual handling of pieces of all dates and descriptions, consequently the genuine Irish dealer who has lived amongst it all his life has a very great pull with regard to actual knowledge. So many specimens were made to order, and were therefore of special shape and cutting, that it is very difficult for the uninitiated to recognise a piece as being of any certain factory or period, and he is naturally mystified when he tries to classify such pieces into more or less well-known categories. For instance, an ancestor of mine had in his possession an early deep coloured bowl, cover, and stand of exceptional quality, made about 1750. His son, in 1790, had it cut in "flat diamonds" (a cutting then much in vogue), the result being a specimen of early dark "wavy" glass, adorned with the beautiful cutting of forty years later, and this is only _one_ instance of many which could be quoted. IRISH GLASS SOLD ABROAD. Great quantities of Irish glass were made, and the official Irish records show that large numbers of pieces were exported to America, Spain, Portugal, and the West Indies, etc. Many of our finest specimens were also taken to Holland, where they found a permanent home, _and were extensively copied by the foreign glass-makers_.