Laboratory glassware is a variety of equipment used in scientific work, traditionally made of glass. Glass may be blown, bent, cut, molded, or formed into many sizes and shapes. It is commonly used in chemistry, biology, and analytical laboratories. Many laboratories have training programs to demonstrate how glassware is used and to alert first–time users to the safety hazards involved with using glassware.

The history of glassware dates back to the Phoenicians who fused obsidian together in campfires, making the first glassware. Glassware evolved as other ancient civilizations including the Syrians, Egyptians, and Romans refined the art of glassmaking. Mary the Jewess, an alchemist in Alexandria during the 1st century AD, is credited for the creation of some of the first glassware for chemical such as the kerotakis which was used for the collection of fumes from a heated material. Despite these creations, glassware for chemical uses was still limited during this time because of the low thermal stability necessary for experimentation, so equipment was primarily made using copper or ceramic materials instead.

Glassware improved once again during the 14th-16th century, with the skill and knowledge of glass makers in Venice. During this time, the Venetians gathered knowledge about glassmaking from the East with information coming from Syria and the Byzantine Empire. Along with knowledge about glassmaking, glassmakers in Venice also received higher quality raw materials from the East such as imported plant ash which contained higher soda content compared to plant ash from other areas. This combination of better raw materials and information from the East led to the production of clearer and higher thermal and chemical durability leading towards the shift to the use of glassware in laboratories.

Many glasses that were produced in bulk in the 1830s would quickly become unclear and dirty because of the low quality glass being used. During the 19th century, more chemists began to recognize the importance of glassware due to its transparency, and the ability to control the conditions of experiments. Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who invented the test tube, and Michael Faraday both contributed to the rise of chemical glassblowing. Faraday published Chemical Manipulation in 1827 which detailed the process for creating many types of small tube glassware and some experimental techniques for tube chemistry. Berzelius wrote a similar textbook titled Chemical Operations and Apparatus which provided a variety of chemical glassblowing techniques. The rise of this chemical glassblowing widened the availability of chemical experimentation and led to a shift towards the dominant use of glassware in laboratories. With the emergence of glassware in laboratories, the need for organization and standards arose. The Prussian Society for the Advancement of Industry was one of the earliest organizations to support the collaborative improvement of the quality of glass used.

Following the development of borosilicate glass by Otto Schott in the late 19th century, most laboratory glassware was manufactured in Germany up until the start of World War I. Before World War I, glass producers in the United States had difficulty competing with German laboratory glassware manufacturers because laboratory glassware was classified as educational material and was not subject to an import tax. During World War I, the supply of laboratory glassware to the United States was cut off.

In 1915 Corning Glassworks developed their own borosilicate glass, introduced under the name Pyrex. This was a boon to the war effort in the United States. Though many laboratories turned back to imports after the war ended, research into better glassware flourished. Glassware became more resistant to thermal shock while maintaining chemical inertness.

During the 1920s efforts to standardise the dimensions of laboratory glassware began, particularly for ground glass joints, with some manufacturer specific standardisation beginning to occur around this time. Commercial standards began development around 1930, allowing the compatibility of joints between different manufacturers for the first time, along with other features. This quickly led to the high degree of standardisation and modularity seen in modern glassware.

Laboratory glassware is typically selected by a person in charge of a particular laboratory analysis to match the needs of a given task. The task may require a piece of glassware made with a specific type of glass. The task may be readily performed using low cost, mass-produced glassware, or it may require a specialized piece created by a glass blower. The task may require controlling the flow of fluid. The task may have distinctive quality assurance requirements.