Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s collection contains approximately 7,000 glass objects. They are fragile by nature, but with the right care they can be preserved for centuries. However, they have discovered that some of their glass objects are losing their integrity and could even break. This problem is sometimes called ‘glass disease’, but they prefer to say that the glass is ‘unstable’.
Since 2008, the museum has been conducting research into unstable glass and in this exhibition they present the results. Around 17% of their glass collection is ‘unstable’. Instability in glass originates during its production. Once the decay has begun, it can no longer be stopped. However, they can try to slow down the process to limit any further damage.
