Glassware characterized by a series of facets, or patterns, cut into its surface.
A marked pattern is roughed out on a glass object with a revolving abrasive wheel; the pattern is then smoothed by a sandstone wheel and polished in an acid bath. The Romans introduced a crude form of glass cutting in the 1st century AD. Modern glass cutting developed in Germany in the late 17th century with the production of a heavy, colourless crystal glass. After Bohemian glass became popular, English and Irish glassmakers adopted the technique. The prismatic styles of their products, notably Waterford glass , became popular in the U.S. after 1780.