Antiquities

Fig 1. An Eastern Mediterranean core-formed Fig 4. vessel showing ‘’ irides- Fig 5. A good example of a pale blue/green broad ampheriskos of the 5th century BC. 6.5cm high. cence. Circa early 4th century AD. Height 10cm. flask with an applied ribbed handle with a ‘claw’ Bonhams Antiquities Sale 28.04.2010. APB £3,120. Bonhams Antiquities Sale 28.04.2010. (part lot) terminal. Height 6cm. Private collection.

New Series: Antiquities Collecting Ancient Glassware: a pursuit that is clearly rewarding in more ways than one by Alan Dawson

he Roman historian and naturalist (AD 23-79) Tattributed the discovery of glass to the Phoenicians and told the tale Fig 2. The magnificent and celebrated Roman cameo glass vase of merchants placing blocks of natron, a natural soda, round their camp unveiled by Bonhams Antiquities fire on a beach some 5000 years ago. The story goes that the heat of the fire Department, early 1st century BC. 33.5cm tall. The piece, despite being melted some of the blocks which, when mixed with the sand formed a semi- fragmentary, is likely to attract a transparent liquid which set hard. This story is obviously apocryphal but it seven-figure estimate! is true that at about this time, that is the late third millennium BC, the art of making glass was discovered. This momentous event did not actually take place in Syria or the shores of the Levant but most probably in southern Mesopotamia in present day Iraq.

It’s now generally accepted that far from being a ‘Eureka!’ moment the discovery of glass making most likely evolved as a by-product of pottery glazes, which were already in use. Surprisingly, man- made glass was first used simply to make small beads, often coloured deep blue by adding azurite to the mixture in an attempt to simulate the precious lapis lazuli. The use of glass to imitate precious and semi-precious stones is a role it still plays today. Several centuries passed before glass was used to make vessels, first by the core-forming technique which seems to have appeared in the sixteenth century BC. This process was extremely skilful but slow and laborious making the end product an expensive luxury. Core-formed glass vessels (Fig 1) are usually small, heavy and decorated with coloured trailing which is combed then marvered smooth. When they appear for sale they are also quite expensive, as a result they are the most faked of all ancient glass - so buyer beware! Egypt soon followed Mesopotamia in developing a glass industry in response to a seemingly insatiable market for small decorative perfume and unguent containers. Both the skill and market for core-formed glass appears to have died out suddenly in the early eleventh century BC only to be revived again some three hundred years later as a somewhat inferior Fig 3. A very late large Roman green product. Nevertheless, this newly re-discovered industry soon gathered momentum again and with glass flask of the 5th century AD Phoenician traders spreading both wares and knowledge around the rim of the Mediterranean the with an applied ‘pie crust’ frill. 32cm glass vessel industry flourished. In response to market forces new production techniques began to tall. Bonhams Antiquities Sale develop; mould-forming, slumping and cold-cutting (Fig 2) but the high point of glass mass- 28.04.2010. ABP £2,640.

ANTIQUES INFO - September/October 10 Antiquities production only really came with the discovery of glass-blowing early in the first century BC. (Figs 3-6) This new method meant that vessels could be made quickly and, with thinner walls using less glass, more economically. As a result the whole production cost was greatly reduced and glass vessels became available to a wider section of Roman society. The uses and diversities of shape multiplied and the retail cost of glass vessels dropped dramatically. The Greek geographer Strabo (63BC -AD24) commented that “…a (glass) drinking cup could be bought for a copper coin” (if only that was the case today!) By the Roman Imperial period glass was certainly a common commodity but also remained a major art form as vessels could be blown into moulds taking on the shapes of heads, faces, (Fig 7) fruit and animals. Between the first and third centuries AD glassmaking spread rapidly throughout the and beyond. The provinces of England, France, Germany and Spain all used glass and early Roman glass has even been found in China! By the beginning of the second century glass making had reached a peak in production and variety of styles with an array of glass objects being regularly Fig 8. A group of eleven assorted Roman glass vessels dating from 1st to early 6th century AD. Largest piece 13cm tall. Bonhams Antiquities Sale used in nearly every domestic, religious and funerary context. 28/04/2010. ABP £1,320. As far as most collectors of ancient glass are concerned the period covering the first century BC to the end of the fourth century AD is the most productive in terms of availability and affordability. In other words the period of the Roman Empire is

Fig 6. Roman mould-blown olive green glass jar with fine diagonal striations. Height 12.5cm. Bonhams Antiquities sale 28.04.2010. ABP £720.

Fig 9. A colourful mould-blown pale green Fig 11. Roman tall glass unguentarium with tall ampheriskos with applied handles. Dating to neck decorated with spiral trailing. Circa 2nd – 4th late1st/2nd century AD. Height 11.5cm. Private century AD. Height 11 cm. Private collection collection*.

Fig 7. A fine specimen of a green glass mould- Fig 10. Late Roman glass bowl completely covered Fig 12. A good example of a so-called Roman blown ‘grape’ flask. Circa early 3rd century AD. in a multi-coloured metallic iridescence. Note the glass ‘tear bottle’ with silver/blue iridescence. Height 11.25cm. Fruit was a popular subject for wheel-cut rim. 12cm. diam. Private collection Circa mid 1st century AD. Height 14cm. Roman period decorative glass. ANTIQUES INFO - September/October 10 Antiquities synonymous with ancient glass. It is but a few (Fig 14). The design flexibility worth mentioning to collectors of later of blown glass meant that novel innova- glassware that ancient glass does not tions could be tried, such as drawn-out always display the symmetry or refine- tactile protrusions round the body of small ments of more sophisticated wares of the containers, a warning that the contents Georgian or Victorian periods. Yet in were not to be ingested. A constriction other respects the skill and care employed half way down the neck of a glass bottle in its manufacture is far more advanced easily turned it into a sprinkler flask and than you might expect. Admittedly, air by experimenting still further with bubbles, sagging and stress fractures are chemical additions to the glass formula to be expected in some of the more mass- colours of every hue could be achieved. produced examples but balance this In a commercial context the resulting against delicate trailing, an infinite variety glass containers could be uniformly of shapes and styles plus occasionally a assigned to different contents. The process beautiful natural iridescence and the of blowing glass into a prepared mould Fig 13. Two small Roman mould-blown cosmetic vessels of the mid 2nd century AD. Height of tallest appeal of ancient glass becomes obvious. produced a form of ‘art glass’ (Fig 15) 55mm. (Figs 8-10) Ancient glass is not always which was still practical yet decorative in ‘clean’ insomuch as it frequently has dried the extreme. Mould-blowing produced a deposits adhering to both inside and slightly heavier vessel than free-blown outside and sometimes an uneven colour, glass but it was just as quick to make and stains or other scars. It all depends on could be tailored to the individual buyer’s how you view the object. Many collectors taste. This often meant adding his name in of ancient artefacts tend to consider such relief on the base of the vessel or even a imperfections as simply a catalogue of its form of blatant advertising such as the history and an intrinsic part of its maker’s mark and the message in uniqueness. Of course too many such “Let the Buyer Remember!” Such blemishes can certainly detract from the inscribed glass vessels rarely appear on vessel’s visual appeal, so over-romanti- the market so it’s always worth carefully cizing should be moderated in favour of examining the base of any glass artefact more practical visual aesthetics. When as an inscription is sometimes weakly starting to collect ancient glass look for pressed. Fig 14. A free-blown Roman clear ‘aqua’ glass those little embellishments to the vessel By the end of the first century AD vessel with pinched lugs as a tactile warning which make it more interesting such as coloured glass went largely out of fashion device. Circa 2nd century AD. Height 8cm. Private collection. the subtle use of colour, decorative and clear or ‘aqua’ glass became the trailing or fancy handle terminals, (Fig dominant style. The brightly tinted 11) and of course that much sought after colours which had characterised glass iridescence is a bonus. products of the earlier years were replaced One of the commonest of all Roman by colourless and very pale green vessels. glass vessels is a small slender unguent Pliny, who was writing his famous bottle with a curled lip, long neck and Historia Naturalis at about this time, swelling base. (Fig 12) Fragments found attributed the popularity of clear glass to near funeral prompted some its resemblance to the highly prized antiquarians in the past to give these small natural rock crystal. Throughout the third unguentaria the name lachrymatories or and fourth centuries the Roman glass ‘tear bottles’ in the fanciful belief that industry continued with peaks and troughs they were used at funerals to collect the of quality, output and trade, influenced by tears of the mourners. They do indeed the many political and military upheavals occur in a funerary context but were more which so characterised the late Roman likely the discarded containers used for Empire. anointing oils. Such small containers for Collecting ancient glass can be oils, spices, unguents and cosmetics are rewarding both financially and intellec- by far the most frequently encountered tually as prices have risen quite dramati- Roman glass vessels and can be found in cally in recent years with choice pieces a bewildering range of styles, sizes and achieving astonishing results at auction. colours. (Fig 13) They are also the most As a consequence the price of even affordable with prices starting as low as modest examples has been elevated £75 for a simple mould-blown cosmetic considerably. However putting value to pot. one side the real reward is in forming a Throughout the Roman world glass collection, the items in which represent vessels came in many forms and with the early stages of man’s progress in diverse uses, from storage jars to perfume manipulating this amazing medium to Fig 15. Roman mould-blown ‘face’ flask with a bottles, baby feeder vessels, oil-lamp form a largely utilitarian item which can conical neck and heavy silver/blue iridescence. fillers, dishes, jugs and sprinklers to name also be a thing of great beauty. Circa 2nd century AD. Height 13cm. (base repaired) ANTIQUES INFO - September/October 10