Published: May 15, 2018 • By Nora I. Moriarty and Debby Sneed

Catalogue EntryPhotograph of a reddish glass vessel with a round body and base with a relatively short and narrow neck and outward-tapering mouth, from the side against a neutral gray background.

From the Catalogue of听Ancient Glass in the University of baby直播app Museum

Gift of H. Medill Sarkisian and Justine Sarkisian Rodriguez (1979)
听(2008)
贬别颈驳丑迟:听7.6听肠尘
Diameter (max.): 5.1 cm
Roman, late 2nd听century C.E.

Classification: Isings Form 92;听Harden Fabric 6

Description: Uneven lip with short funnel-shaped mouth. Narrow cylindrical neck that tapers out toward bottom. Smooth transition from neck to bulbous body with rounded base. Purple with white听trail would spirally from听base to middle of neck.听 and flaking.听Blown, thread applied afterwards.听

Comment: The purple color comes from the exposure of manganese compounds in the glass to sunlight.听Similar examples are Eisen 1927, pl. 90;听Dusenbery 1967,听no. 17;听Hayes 1975, no. 112;听Fitzwilliam Museum 1978, no. 93c;听Constable-Maxwell Collection 1979,听lot 55;听Whitehouse 2001, no. 700;听 Schlick-Nolte 2002, no. V-51; and Weinberg and Stern 2009, G 128.听

Discussion

The spiral design that runs from the bottom to the top of this bottle was made by "threading."听A thin thread of contrasting glass (in this case, white glass) is allowed to drip from a rod onto the finished glass vase while it is turned. The thread is initially raised off the surface of the vessel听until the glassmaker听rolls the bottle on a slab, flattening the thread until it lies flush with the surface听or heating it until the thread melts flat (1). Threading was a popular style of decoration in 听(2).听

The purple color of this glass was created by adding manganese to the ingredients of the glass. Manganese provided a few possible outcomes for Roman glass manufacturers:听a small amount could remove any tint from glass and result in a colorless fabric, a larger amount made glass turn yellow, and an even larger amount of manganese could tint the glass a deep purple, like this vase. The sands in Egypt contained a natural level of manganese, which might explain why the Egyptians became so skilled in manipulating tinted glass by adding manganese to the mixture. Roman glassmakers could have learned these skills through trade (3).

Footnotes

  1. E. Marianne Stern,听Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass听(New York: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2001): 38, 57.
  2. Stern 2001: 130-132.
  3. Donald B. Harden,听Roman Glass from Karanis听(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1936): 6-8.

References

  • Catalogue of the Constable-Maxwell Collection of Ancient Glass.听London: Maggs Brothers,听1979.
  • Dusenbery, E. B.听鈥淎ncient Glass from the Cemeteries of Samothrace,鈥澨�Journal of Glass Studies听9 (1967): 34-49.
  • Eisen, G. A.听Glass: Its Origin, History, Chronology, Technic and Classification to the Sixteenth Century, v. 1.听New York: W. E. Rudge,听1927.
  • Glass at the Fitzwilliam Museum.听Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,听1978.
  • Hayes, J. W.听Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum.听Toronto:听1975.
  • Schlick-Nolte, B.听鈥淐atalogue of Ancient Glass,鈥� in听Reflections on Ancient Glass from the Borowski Collection, ed. R. S. Bianchi, B. Schlick-Nolte, G. M. Bernheimer, and Dan Barag.听Mainz: P. von Zabern, 2002: 47-109.
  • Weinberg, G. D. and E. M. Stern.听Vessel Glass. Athenian Agora听Vol. 34. Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2009.听
  • Whitehouse, D.听Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, v. 2.听Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass, 2001.
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