Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Glass in the British Museum

Transcription

1 Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Glass in the British Museum Vera I. Evison edited by Sonja Marzinzik with contributions from Ian C. Freestone, Michael J. Hughes and Colleen P. Stapleton

2 Publishers The British Museum Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG Series Editor Josephine Turquet Assistant Editor Aimin Walsh Distributors The British Museum Press 46 Bloomsbury Street London WC1B 3QQ Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Glass in the British Museum Vera I. Evison edited by Sonja Marzinzik with contributions from Ian C. Freestone, Michael J. Hughes and Colleen P. Stapleton British Museum Research Publication No. 167 ISBN ISSN The Trustees of the British Museum 2008 Front Cover: Globular beaker (cat. no. 150) late 6th 7th century Note: the British Museum Occasional Papers series is now entitled British Museum Research Publications. The OP series runs from 1 to 150, and the RP series, keeping the same ISSN and ISBN preliminary numbers, begins at number 151. For a complete catalogue of the full range of OPs and RPs see the series website: www/the britishmuseum.ac.uk/ researchpublications or write to: Oxbow Books, Park End Place Oxford OX1 1HN, UK Tel: (+44) (0) e mail oxbow@oxbowbooks.com website or The David Brown Book Co PO Box 511, Oakville CT 06779, USA Tel: (+1) ; Toll free e mail david.brown.bk.co@snet.net Printed and bound in UK by Kingswood Steele

3 Contents Acknowledgements v Discussion 1 Introduction 1 Manufacture and chronology 1 Chronology 1 Techniques of manufacture 2 Decoration 3 Colour 3 Provenance of vessels and other glass in the collection 3 Earlier finds 3 Later finds 6 Glass production in Anglo-Saxon England 7 Chemical analysis 8 Discussion of vessel types 9 Bowls 9 Cone beakers 11 Horns 12 Stemmed beaker 13 Bell beakers 13 Claw beakers 13 Palm cups 15 Globular beakers 16 Pouch bottles 19 Bag beakers 19 Fragments of unidentifiable vessels 20 Vessel rim fragments used as beads 20 Large disc beads 21 Pendants and other glass items 23 Small glass settings 28 The Composition and Production of Anglo-Saxon Glass 29 Ian C. Freestone, Michael J. Hughes and Colleen P. Stapleton Introduction 29 Analysis 31 Results and interpretation 32 Bibliography 42 Tables 44 Catalogue 47 Bowls (cat. nos 1 18) 47 Cone beakers (cat. nos 19 46) 49 Horns (cat. nos 47 48) 52 Stemmed beaker (cat. no. 49) 52 Bell beakers (cat. nos 50 56) 52 Claw beakers (cat. nos 57 85) 53 Palm cups (cat. nos ) 58 Globular beakers (cat. nos ) 60 Pouch bottles (cat. nos ) 66 Bag beakers (cat. nos ) 67 Fragments of unidentifiable vessels (cat. nos ) 67

4 Rim fragments used as beads (cat. nos ) 68 Large disc beads (cat. nos ) 68 Pendants and other glass items (cat. nos ) 70 Appendices 73 1: Provenance of Anglo-Saxon glass in the British Museum 73 2: Disc beads and cabochon pendants with reticella trails from Anglo-Saxon England 73 3: Analyses of the metal components of a silver cross pendant from Gravesend 74 Duncan R. Hook, The British Museum 4: List of glass vessels from Anglo-Saxon England AD Bibliography 79 Distribution maps 87 1 Provenance of Anglo-Saxon glass in the British Museum (Appendix 1) 87 2 Claw beakers types 3a d (Appendix 4) 88 3 Claw beakers types 4a c (Appendix 4) 89 4 Globular beakers, small, plain (Appendix 4) 89 5 Globular and cone beakers with thick zigzag trails (Appendix 4) 90 6 Pouch bottles (Appendix 4) 90 7 Bag beakers (Appendix 4) 91 8 Disc beads and cabochon pendants with reticella decoration (Appendix 2) 92 Figures Bowls (cat. nos 1 18) Cone beakers (cat. nos 19 46) Horns (cat. nos 47 48) Stemmed beaker, (cat. no. 49); Bell beakers (cat. nos 50 56) Claw beakers (cat. nos 57 85) Palm cups (cat. nos ) Globular beakers (cat. nos ) Pouch bottles (cat. nos ) Bag beakers (cat. nos ) Unidentifiable vessels (cat. nos ); rim fragments used as beads (cat. nos ) Beads (cat. nos ) Pendants and other glass items (cat. nos ) Plates Bowls (cat. nos 6, 7, 9, 15) Cone beakers (cat. nos 34, 42) Stemmed beaker (cat. no. 49); Bell beakers (cat. nos 51, 56) Claw beakers (cat. nos 60, 62, 66) Palm cups (cat. nos 89, 90); Globular beakers (cat. nos 113, 131, 149, 154) Bag beakers (cat. nos 161, 164) 134 Colour plates Vessel fragment (cat. no. 16); Plaque (cat. no. 17); Cone beaker (cat. no. 36); Horn (cat. no. 47) Claw beakers (cat. nos 57, 58) Claw beakers (cat. nos 67, 85) Claw beakers (cat. nos 79, 78) Claw beakers (cat. nos 81, 80) Palm cups (cat. nos 95, 96); Globular beaker (cat. no. 127) Globular beakers (cat. nos 148, 155); Pouch bottle (cat. no. 160) Bag beaker (cat. no. 161); Disc beads (cat. nos 195, 196); Imitation jewel (cat. no. 211); 142 Stud (cat. no. 212); Pendant (cat no. 217); Imitation jewel (cat. no. 218)

5 Acknowledgements This catalogue could not have been written without the generous help and co-operation of the members of the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities, later the Department of Prehistory and Europe, at the British Museum. Most prominent among these are Leslie Webster, Sue Youngs, Cathy Haith and Angela Care Evans, and in the Drawing Office Jim Farrant and James Copland Thorn. The result of the interest of Ian Freestone previously of the Department of Conservation, Documentation and Science at the British Museum is to be seen in his study of the constituents of the glass with M.J. Hughes and C.P. Stapleton. Duncan Hook carried out the analyses of the metal components of the silver cross pendant from Gravesend (Appendix 4, cat. no. 217). The drawings are almost all the work of Lisa Rearden with some contributions by Jim Farrant, Stephen Crummy and James Copland Thorn. The photographs are by Saul Peckham. The National Grid References in the catalogue were provided through Dr Bruce Eagles then at the National Monuments Record (NMR) of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME). All six figure numbers refer either to a large site (e.g. a cemetery) or a large modern feature. When publication was decided upon in 2006 some updating was undertaken, and I am greatly indebted to Dr Sonja Marzinzik of the Department of Prehistory and Europe for assistance and for overseeing the passage of the manuscript. Valuable editorial assistance came from Ms Stephanie Zintl and Ms Sue Brunning. A generous grant by the Association for the History of Glass has made the inclusion of colour images possible. Ian Freestone would like to acknowledge the late Mr T.L. Martin for financial support for trace element analysis through the Renaissance Trust; Dr Sheridan Bowman, former Keeper of Scientific Research at the British Museum for supporting the project; Dr Roger Nathan for support in compiling the database and Mr Keith Matthews for help with the analyses. British Museum Research Publications Editor s note It is with much regret that we record that due to ill-health Vera Evison was unable to complete the final revisions to the manuscript, or to respond to the comments of the Peer reviewer. Josephine Turquet, March 2008 Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Glass in the British Museum v

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