Catalogue EntryÌý
From the Catalogue ofÌýAncient Glass in the University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Museum
Gift of H. Medill Sarkisian and Justine Sarkisian Rodriguez (1979)
Ìý(2008)
Height:Ìý4.8 cm
Diameter (max.): 17.8 cm
Roman, 1st century C.E.
Classification: Isings Form 3c;ÌýHarden Fabric 1
Description: Slightly outcurved rim on a wide bowl. 65 relatively evenly spaced ribs around center of bowl, reaching neither the lip nor the base. Colorless, almostÌýtransparent glass with green tint.ÌýChip missing from rim.Ìý and a large rusty patch extending in an arc from the rim to the bottom.ÌýSagged.
Comment: Not enough examples of this type come from an archaeological context to establish a definite chronology; a handful of fragments from the western provinces of the Roman Empire belong to the 1st century C.E.ÌýOther similar examples are Eisen 1927, pl. 40;ÌýHayes 1975,Ìýno. 47;ÌýFitzwilliam Museum 1978,Ìýno. 32c;ÌýConstable-Maxwell Collection 1979,Ìýlot 38;Ìýand Grose 1989,Ìýno. 234.
The shape of the rust damage indicates either a repair of a large breakÌýor that at one time the bowl was on display on a bad metal mounting, presumably propped up like a modern decorative plate.
Discussion
This bowl was notÌýblownÌýorÌýcore-formedÌýwhen shaped. Instead, it was formed by a process called "sagging"Ìýor "slumping."ÌýThis involved a sheet of glass being heated until pliable, then placed over a dome-shaped mold, so that the edges would sag and slump down. The shape of the bowl was made while it sat upside-down. The edges were polished and flattened after the sagging was complete (1). Ribs like the ones seen on this bowl were slapped or carved into the glass (while still upside down) when the glass was still soft enough to be worked (2).
Romans valued colorless, clear glass more than colored and opaque glass. Colorless bowls and vases were significantly more expensive than their colorful counterparts. Manufacturing glass that did not have a lot of pigment required an extra ingredient. This ingredient was a neutralizing agent that would prevent the metals in the sand from tinting the glass (3). During Ìý(69-86 C.E.) Romans became obsessedÌýwith colorless glass objects, due to the popularity of cut rock crystal vessels. Clear, untinted glass resembled the very expensive crystalÌýand therefore provided a cheaper alternative (4).
Footnotes
- Robert J. Charleston,ÌýMasterpieces of Glass: A World History from the Corning Museum of GlassÌý(New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1980): 39-40.
- Donald B. Harden,ÌýRoman Glass from KaranisÌý(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1936): 19-20.
- Harden 1936: 6-9.
- E. Marianne Stern,ÌýRoman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval GlassÌý(New York: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2001): 130-131.
References
- Catalogue of the Constable-Maxwell Collection of Ancient Glass.ÌýLondon: Maggs Brothers,Ìý1979.
- Eisen, G. A.ÌýGlass: Its Origin, History, Chronology, Technic and Classification to the Sixteenth Century, v. 1.ÌýNew York: W. E. Rudge,Ìý1927.
- Glass at the Fitzwilliam Museum.ÌýCambridge: Cambridge University Press,Ìý1978.
- Grose, D. F.ÌýEarly Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50.ÌýNew York: Hudson Hills Press, 1989.
- Hayes, J. W.ÌýRoman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum.Ìý°Õ´Ç°ù´Ç²Ô³Ù´Ç:Ìý1975.