the glass of the greeks and romans

8/4/2019 The Glass of the Greeks and Romans

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The Glass of the Greeks and Romans

Author(s): D. B. HardenSource: Greece & Rome, Vol. 3, No. 9 (May, 1934), pp. 140-149Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/641023

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THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS ANDROMANSBy D. B. HARI5EN

I T is not long since it was commonly thought that the art ofblowing glass was known for several thousand years beforeChrist. CertainEgyptian tomb-paintingsofthe twelfth dynasty(c. 2000 B.C.) and later, which really depict metal-workersblowing the flames of their furnace,were thought to representglass-blowers. As a corollary,it has been said that not a fewof the vessels of blown glass found on ancient sites in Greeceand other Mediterraneancountriesbelong to the Greekperiod.Such beliefs are quite incorrect. There is no evidence that theprocess of blowing glass was invented until about the time ofChrist. Scientific excavation in Greece has proved beyondquestion that any fragmentsof glassvessels found there belongto Roman or later times; the tombs in Cyprus that containHellenistic or earlierpottery contain no blown glass, whereasin tombs of Roman date blown glass tends to displacepotteryas funeraryfurniture;and similarobservationshave been madeduring scientific excavations in the other Mediterraneancountries.

If, therefore,blown glasswas unknownto the Greeksduringtheir days of independence, we must look for some other typeof glass that they were familiarwith, for there are numerousreferencesto glassvessels in the works of authorsof the classicalperiod.' Such passagesmust refer to vessels of glass made bythe sand-coretechnique, a processwell known in Egypt duringthe eighteenth dynasty, and probably invented there not longbefore that date (c. 1500 B.C.). The process involves the build-ing up of a core of sand on a wooden or metal rod, and model-ling the molten glass upon it. When the glass has cooled, therod and the core of sand are removed. The method was costlyandlaborious,andwas only suited for the manufactureof smallvases and unguent-bottles. From the eighteenth dynastyI e.g. Ar. Acharnians, 74 Trr{vopEVii OaUivCvCK p TrcArv, and Plato, Timaeus6I B 76 TrErEpi Tiv Oahov ivos &TraVya TEsAieov XUTrra&,! Ka\EYiTal.


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THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS 141onwardssuch glasswas made in quantitiesin Egypt, andwhen,duringthe eighth andseventh centuriesB.C.,Phoenician traderswere spreading Eastern products in Greek lands, these sand-core glasseswere one of the types of merchandisethey broughtwith them. Some of it they perhaps made themselves on theSyrian coast, the rest they acquiredfrom Egypt. By the sixthcentury sand-core glasses are so common on Aegean sites thatsome of them may have been made locally, in Rhodes perhaps,or on the Greek mainland itself. But proof of this is lackingand we must not forget that the vessels are all small and easyto transport, and moreover that they are chiefly unguent-vessels such as would be suitable for carryingEasterncosmeticsto morewesterly countries. Pl. VI a illustratestypicalexamplesof sand-core vessels. They are of opaque glass of variouscolours and are usually decorated with threads of differentcolour to that of the background. These threadsare trailed orspun on to the vase and marvered in flush by rolling the vaseon a flat surface. Festoons are made by combing the threadsone way, zigzags by combing in two directions.The next technique of glass-makingto attainpopularitywasthat of pressing molten glass into an open mould. By thismeans shapes such as bowls, dishes, and cups, that were notsuited to the sand-coreprocess,were broughtinto the repertoryof types that were at the disposalof the glass-maker. Probablythe technique was invented at the same time as the sand-coremethod, to which it is very much akin. Neither demandssucha high temperaturein the molten glass for working purposesas does blowing. There are certainshapes amongstthe glassesof the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, e.g. the cup onstem, which would be more readily made in a mould than ona sand-core. But however early it was invented, it did notattain any great popularity until Hellenistic times. Perhapsduring the second, certainly during the first century B.C.,bowls and dishes made by this processwere prevalentin Egyptand had begun to be exported to other Mediterranean ands.These were made in fine translucent glass of various colours,some monochrome and some polychrome. The polychromepieces include examplesof manyvarietiesof patternwhich may


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142 THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANSall be classedtogetherunder the generalhead of 'mosaic'glass.First and foremostis the 'millefiori'pattern. To makethis theworker first fused together strips of glass of varied colours sothat they formed in cross-section the likeness of a flower. Therod was then cut cross-wise into flat disks and these were laidside by side in the mould and againfused together. The resultwas a bowl made in 'millefiori' or 'thousand flowers' pattern.Among other varieties may be mentioned marbled glass,dappled glass, striped glass, and glass with internal threads.Pl. VI b shows examples of some of these techniques.

It was not long aftermould-pressedwarebecame fashionablethat some inventive genius discovered that glass, if kept in afluid state at a high temperature,could be blown to almost anyshape by skilful manipulationof a 'paraison'or bulb of glasson the end of ametalblow-pipe. It maybe confidentlyassumedthat the first discoverer of this techniquewas one of the makersof mould-pressedbowls, who found that by blowingthe moltenglass into his mould instead of pressing it in by hand he couldmakeat the same time a better and an easierjob of it. It was ashort roadthereafterthat led, firstto blowing glass into mouldsthat bore elaboratepatterns,and then to blowing vessels at theend of the blow-pipe without the aid of a mould-in otherwords, to free-blown glass.These developments must have occurred about the begin-ning of the ChristianEra, and are probablydue to workersonthe Syrian coast. There is a group of mould-blown vases be-longing to Syrianworkshopsof about that time many examplesof which bear signaturesof artists in Greek charactersas partof the moulded design. The two best-known names areEnnion and Artas, and their vases have been found on botheasternandwestern Mediterraneansites. These Syriancrafts-men wereundoubtedly amongstthe veryfirstmakersof mould-blownglasses,and it is highlyprobablethatone of theirnumberwas the inventorof the process.

By the beginning of the Roman Imperial period, then, threedistinct processes of making vases were at the disposal of the.glass-worker. The first and second, sand-core and mould-pressing, were stereotyped and inelastic and gave little scope


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Greece & Rome Vol. III Pl. VI

aSand-core glass. About 6th-4th century B.C.

By courtesyof the Trusteesof the British Museum

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Mould-pressed glass bowls. Ist century B.C. to Ist century A.DBy courtesyof the Trusteesof the British Museum


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THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS 143for inventiveness in regardto shape or decoration. The third,free-blowing, was the very opposite, and it is not surprisingthat the two older methods were supersededby the new inven-tion. The manufactureof sand-core soon died out. Archaizingexamples copying the shape and decorationof sand-corewareoccur at later periods, but they are really blown glasses madein imitation of the earlier technique. The manufacture ofmosaic bowls was never abandoned,but after the second cen-tury A.D.such bowls are rareand unimportant,and the processlay more or less dormant until it was revived by Venetianworkersat the time of the Renaissance.Glass-blowing,on the otherhand,speedilybecame one of thestaple industries of the Empire, not only in Egypt and Syria,but in Italy and the western provinces also, particularlyGauland the Rhineland. It was not long before Syrianand Alexan-drian craftsmenmigratedwestwardsand set up factories therein order to produce the glass on the spot and so save the costand difficultyof transport. These factories soon became veryflourishing,more particularly he Rhinelandones, and thoughthey cannot have entirely dispensed with local labour, theymust have kept continuouscontactwith the East by successiveimportationsof Eastern workmen even up to the fourthcenturyA.D. Only thus can the parallel development of shapes andtechniques throughoutthe Empire be accountedfor.Though the main outlines of that development are fairlyclear, the details have not yet been worked out with sufficientcare and attention by archaeologiststo enable us to date at allclosely any but a very few types of Roman glass. That beingso, it is of little use here to attemptan historicalsurvey. It willbe more suitable if we discuss the main techniques of manu-facture and decorationof plain, blown glass, and by so doinggive some indication of the achievements,which were in truthvery great,of the Romanglass-blower.The greater portion of Roman blown glass is plain, mono-chrome ware, tinted in various shades of blue-green or green.This colour is due to the iron-content in glass-sands, andvaries in strength according to the quantity of iron present.By the second century A.D., if not before, workers had dis-


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144 THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANScovered the secret of how to neutralize these green tints andproduce colourless glass by the addition of manganeseto themixture, and at the same time they found that manganeseinsuitable proportions would also produce yellow and wine-coloured tints. Other colours, apart from those mentioned,were rarelyused by Romanworkers,but deep blues, colouredwith copper or cobalt, and reds, coloured with copper, areoccasionallyfound.This ordinaryglasswas mass-produced n factoriesthrough-out the Empire. Certaincentressuch as Alexandria, he Syriancoast, and the Rhone and Rhine valleyswere predominantandexported their products far and wide. But there were also,apparently, not a few minor centres of the industry, set upwhere natural deposits of glass-sand were available. In thisconnexionit is interestingto note that Mr. Thomas May foundwhat he thought were traces of a glass factory at Wilderspool,Cheshire,a place that is less thanten miles in a directline fromSt. Helens, which is one of the centres of the modernindustry.

The workwas, of course, all done by hand with the simplesttools, and the furnaceswere heatedby wood and charcoal. Theworkerswere artisans with no chemical knowledge worthy ofthe name,andthey worked on a system of trialanderror. Longpractice alone told them what quantities of ingredients werenecessaryfor making glass of a certainqualityand texture.The shapes of glass that they made were many and various,for, after the invention of blowing, glass became one of thenecessities of life, whereaspreviouslyit had been an expensiveluxury. As is to be expected,the earliestshapesarethe simplest,and decoration is at first rare and of a most elementarytype.Later, shapes become more composite: elaborate base-ringsand stems are added to bowls and flasks; twisted handles ofmanifoldtypes are given to jugs and amphorae;and intricaciesof the blower's art such as ring-vasesand bottles with two ormore compartmentsare not uncommon.

Glass was used for many household purposes, principally,no doubt, as table-ware, and for toilet-bottles and unguent-vases; but also for storage of wine, oil, and other liquids. Itswidespread use as table-ware is attested by recent finds at


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a-c. Portion of a hoard of glass table-ware from Karanis (K6m Aushim), Fayum.3rd-5th century A.D.By courtesyof the University of Michigan


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THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS 145Karanis,a small Romano-Egyptiantown on the northernedgeof the Fayfim in Egypt. There several large hoards of table-ware-bowls, flasks, and jugs-of yellow or green glass havebeen found in housesof the fourthcenturyA.D. Pl. VII a-c). Inthe cellars of one house no less than thirty-seven vessels ofglasswere found, some stored in jars, some proppedup againstthe walls. These comprised:8 oval dishes 2 jars16 bowls 2 flasks5 conical lamps 2 jugs2 drinkingcupsand they would thereforeform a very complete set of ware fordining-room use, not excluding the five lamp-glasses whichgave light to the diners. We may also remember that thewriters of the lives of the third-century emperors recountseveral changes of fashion which show that glass was the rivalof gold on the tables of the rich. AlexanderSeverus,we read,'refused to use gold vessels but preferred 'pocula mediocria sednitida', which evidently means glass. Gallienus, on the otherhand 'bibit in aureis semper poculis, aspernatusvitrum'.2Curiously enough, the flat dish is a very rareform in Romanglass, but bowls and cups (P1.VIII a) of all shapesand sizes arefrequent, and varieties of flasks and jugs (P1.VIII c) are sonumerousand individualin aspectthat they almostdefy classi-fication. Heavy green bottles, either cylindricalor rectangular

in section, were used in greatnumbersfor transporting iquids.They were lighter than vessels of wood or metal and moredurablethan skins, and at the same time, being of thick glass,they were not very fragile if packedcarefullyand inserted in aplaited cover, like that of a modern eau-de-Cologne flask, sothat they were convenient for transport purposes. Glass con-tainers for unguents and toilet-preparationswere also verypopularin Roman times, just as they were in earlierdays, andhave been ever since. As glass is cheap, easy to clean, and notliable to quick corrosionby any chemical ingredients in toilet-

I Lampridius, Life of Alex. Severus, 34. 1.2 Trebellius Pollio, Lives of the two Gallieni, 17. 5.3871.9 L


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146 THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANSpreparations, t is farthe best materialfor such containers,andthis was soon realizedby its makers. Roman toilet-bottles areusuallyof plain, simpleshapes(P1.VIII d),with a long neckanda drop-shapedortriangularbody. Late examplesin Syriaoftenhave basket-handles;but for the most part these vases are inessence useful ratherthan ornamental. Glass was also used forlamps, but that usage does not seem to havebegun until aboutthe fourthcenturyA.D., houghfromthen on it gains greaterandgreater popularity. Glass lamps are of various shapes. Theearliestareeither conicalor stemmed cups, andthey were usedjust like the archaizing ype of oil-lamphungin frontof shrinesin some modern churches. The glass,was filled with water onwhich the oil floated, and the wick was supported by a metalholder or on a float. Such lamps would be set in a stand orhung in groups in a chandelier.Finally, the use of glass as funeraryfurniture demands ourattention. To the archaeologistthis use must always seem tohave been more important than it really was, for most of thecomplete specimens of ancient glass that are in our museumshave been found in tombs. Yet little, if any, ancient glasswas made solely for funerary use. Doubtless some of thecineraryurns which became so prevalent during the first andsecond century A.D.,when the practice of cremationwas therule throughout the western Roman Empire, were expresslymade for that purpose. But this does not applyto them all, forwe find plainjars and common green cylindricaland rectangu-larglassbottles sometimesused to containthe ashesof the dead.As for the remainder of the grave-furniture,the flasks,jugs,bowls, and the rest that containedthe food and drinkdepositedwith the body for use after death-they were, of course, onlysome of the dead person's household goods which it wasthought properfor him to carrywith him to the future life.It remains to consider the methods of decorating blown-glass vessels that were favoured by Roman workers. Threemain techniques were in vogue:I. Tooling the glass when warm.2. Engravingthe glass when cold.3. Applying drawnglassto the vessel when bothwerewarm.


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Greece & Rome Vol. III PI. VIII

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c da, c, d. Glass vessels from Cyprus (Cesnola collection). Ist-3rd century A.D.By courtesyof the MetropolitanMuseumof Art, New Yorkb. Cut-glass goblet from Cyprus. 2nd-3rd century A.D.By courtesyof the Trusteesof the British Museum


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THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS 147Any two or all of these techniques might be combined on onevase, though as a rule, when the second was employed we donot find either the first or the third in conjunctionwith it.I. Toolingtheglass when warm. This was done with metaltools, either the pucellas or pair of pincers, or the reamer, atool like a putty-knifewith a flatbladeand a pointed end. Withthe pucellas raisedridges or knobs could be made by pinchingout portions of the vessel's walls, and indents by pressing onthe glass with the closed tool. With the pointed end of thereamerribs could be made by furrowingthe glass. The pres-sure of the point causes glass to be displaced which forms araised rib beside the furrow.2. Cutting theglass when cold. This method of decorationwas accomplishedwith the aid of a gravingtool or 'diamond',Iand a rotatingwheel fed with water and corundum. The glasswas first incised with the graving-tool until the requisitequantity, in the desired pattern, had been removed fromthe surface. The roughened parts were then smoothed andpolished into facets with the wheel. Often, in elaboratepat-terns, the graving-tool was once more employed to add linesof shadingor other decoration within the facets. On late vasesthe wheel was usually dispensed with and the patternwas leftin the rough condition imparted to it by the graver. Thismethod of decorationwas borrowedby the glass-workerfromthe gem-cutter, and became very prevalent in the secondcenturyA.D., n the newly-inventedcolourlessglass. Sometimesthe worker was content with a pattern of grooves and facets(P1.VIII b),atother times elaborate loralpatternswere devisedby him. And there are even in existence not a few bowlsdecorated with mythological or genre figure-scenes. In theBritish Museum, for instance, there is a fine bowl found atMerseburg in Saxony (probablylooted from a Roman city byGermanwarriors)which tells the storyof Actaeon and Artemis:the names of the two protagonistsare gravenupon it in Greekcharacters. And there arebowls'in Cologne and Rheims which

That an actual diamond was used is questionable, although ancient authors,both Greek and Roman, mention a very hard stone called 'adamas', whichprobably is the same as what we now call diamond.


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148 THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANSbear respectively the myths of Lynceus and Hypermnestra(Pl. IX a), and of Atalanta and Hippomenes. As for genrescenes, the museum at Treves possesses a fragment of a bowldepicting a scene of chariot-racing in the circus, and inCologne is a dish bearing a stag-hunt. In the fourth centuryChristianscenes became common, for instance, the sacrifice ofIsaac, on a dish in Treves, and Susanna and the Elders, on adish in Cologne. These Christianbowls are usually engravedonly and not faceted and polished.3. Applying drawnglass to the vesselwhenbothwerewarm.Such secondary application might take the form of ropes orthreads made of drawn glass and trailed on to the vase (P1.IX b). This was done by attachinga wad of glass to the vaseand then spinning the vase while at the same time the threadwas drawn out from the wad. Sometimes such decorationwasleft in relief, sometimes it was marveredflush with the surfaceby rolling the vessel on a flat table or marver while theglass was still warm. Another variety of secondary applica-tion is the blob or knop, a dab of glass applied in a warmstate to the vase and fused into the surface by reheating(Pl.IXb).We have now dealt very brieflywith the main characteristicsof the ordinaryglass of the Roman period. No aspect of thesubject has been considered in detail; numerous aspects of ithave not been touched upon at all. Enough has been said,however, to show how complete was the mastery which theRoman worker attained over his material. Considering themeagre knowledge of chemistry which he possessed, and thesimplicity of the applianceswhich he used, it is quite surprisinghow rapid was his advance in the art of glass-working. AfterRoman days skill in glass-working declined, especially inEurope, and it was not until the Venetians in the thirteenthandfollowing centuries reintroducedsome of the niceties of theart from Syria, and rediscovered others for themselves, thatglass-workingreachedthat same height of attainment to whichit had climbed by the third century A.D. It was not until thelaternineteenth century,when the new chemical and mechani-cal knowledgecame to the aid of the glass-worker,that Roman


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Greece & Rome Vol. III Pl. IX

aCut-glass bowl, Cologne Museum: story of Lynceus and Hypermnestra.2nd century A.D.

After A. Kisa, Das Glas im Altertume, ig. 246.7 ::? :-!i::!:i:-l i-!:iii::ii i i:!:: /::i ''? ??? . . ??:?: !i!ii

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Glass vessels with applied decoration from Cologne.3rd-4th century A.D.After [S. Loeschcke]SammlungNiessen, K6ln, pl. ix.


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THE GLASS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS I49methods and standardswere really improved upon. Of such arecord the workers in the new-born industry might well beproud.

BIBLIOGRAPHYBooks on ancient glass are few, and there is no good account of the subject forthe general reader, in any language. The following will be found of use byadvanced students:

A. Kisa, Das Glas im Altertume, 3 vols., Leipzig, I908.Morin-Jean, La Verrerie en Gaule sous l'empireromain, Paris, 1913.Mary L. Trowbridge, Philological Studies in Ancient Glass, Univ. of IllinoisStud. in Lang. and Lit., vol. xiii, nos. 3-4, Urbana, Illinois, 1930.C. C. Edgar, Graeco-Egyptian Glass, Cat. Gen. des Antiq. Eg. du Mus. duCaire, Cairo, I905.F. Fremersdorf, R6mische Gldseraus K6ln (Studien aus den K61nen Kunst-sammlungen, vii), Cologne, 1928.D. B. Harden, Roman Glassfrom Karanis (University of Michigan Studies,Humanistic Series). In the press.(S. Loeschcke), Beschreibung rdm. Altertilmer gesammelt von Karl AntonNiessen, Cologne, 191I.A. de Ridder, Coll. de ClercqCat., tome 6, Les terrescuiteset les verres,Paris,1909.

VERSESFLORI,villula nostra non ad Austriflatus oppositast neque ad Favoninec saevi Boreae aut Ampelistae,verum ad millia quindecim et ducentos.O ventum horribilem atque pestilentem.

CATULLUS26THISlittle house of mine is snug enoughFrom draughts that blow from North, South, East, and West:No, it's that curs'd two thousand overdraftRattles my windows and disturbs my rest. H. W.

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