Weinberg Gallery of Ancient Art Ancient Glass

Weinberg Gallery of Ancient Art Ancient Glass

Ancient Glass Object List (1) 83.189 Two-handled Unguent Flask Roman, 4 th c. C.E. Bluish-green glass with copper blue thread and trails Weinberg Fund C-27.5 Blown with applied trails and handles (2) 68.415 Conical Lamp Roman, 4 th c. C.E. Pale greenish glass with cobalt blue decoration C-27.5 Free-blown with applied decoration (3) 79.127 Bottle Roman, 1 st c. C.E. Italy (?) Deep blue glass Gift of Lucy Miller C-27.1 Free-blown

(4) 70.303 Bottle Islamic, 10 th c. C.E. Jordan Deep aquamarine glass with brown trails C-17.9 Blown and twisted; applied trails (5) 82.411 Bottle Roman, 1 st c. C.E. Syro-Palestine Pale olive-green glass with white thread Gift of Mr. Duane Wilder in honor of Dr. Saul and Gladys Weinberg C-27.1 Free-blown with applied threads (6) 62.2 Flask Roman, late 3 rd c. 4 th c. C.E. Palestine, Hebron (?) Brown glass C-27.4 Free-blown with applied trails, handles, and foot

(7) L-667 Oval Dish Roman, 4 th c. C.E. Egypt, Fayoum Olive-green glass Indefinite loan of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology C-27.6 Tool shaped from gather of glass (8) 61.64 Jar Roman, 3 rd 4 th c. C.E. Amethyst glass C-27.4 Free-blown (9) 74.110 Jug Roman, Late 3 rd early 4 th c. C.E. Palestine Pale brown-yellow glass with blue-green handle and thread C-27.4 Mold-blown; handle applied separately

(10) 62.3 Flask in the Form of a Date Roman, 1 st 2 nd c. C.E. Lebanon, Sayda (?) Brown glass C-27.2 Mold-blown (11) 81.116 Flask Roman, 2 nd 3 rd c. C.E. Turkey Deep green glass Weinberg Fund C-27.3 Free-blown (12) 59.15 Aryballos, dolphin type Roman, 1 st 2 nd c. C.E. Aquamarine glass C-27.2 Free-blown; applied handles (13) 61.22 Shallow Bowl Hellenistic period, ca. 40 B.C.E. 50 C.E. Dark blue glass Published: Muse 13: 54-67 C-27.1 Cast and wheel-cut with a firepolished exterior.

(14) 76.142 Fusiform Unguentarium Roman, 4 th c. C.E. Light olive green glass Gift of Mrs. June Morris Jahn C-27.5 Free-blown (15) 81.122 One-handled Jug Roman, 1 st 2 nd c. C.E. Turkey Pale green-blue glass Weinberg Fund C-27.2 Free-blown, marvered square; applied handle (16) 2002.11 Color-band Bottle Roman, 1 st c. B.C.E. 1 st c. C.E. Italy (?) Multi-colored glass Weinberg Fund Fused canes and then blown

(17) 77.198 Gold Leaf Sandwich Bowl Hellenistic period, early 3 rd 1 st c. B.C.E. Turkey, Istanbul (?) Colorless glass and gold leaf Published: Handbook: no. 64 Two cast bowls fused, with gold leaf insertion between (18) 85.44 Alabastron Greek, 500 450 B.C.E. Turkey Dark blue glass with yellow and light blue trails Weinberg Fund Publish: Muse 19: 34-43 C-26.9 Core-formed, applied handles (19) 90.106 Beaker Roman, second half of 1 st c. C.E. Light olive green glass Published: Muse 23: 117 C-27.2 Mold-blown

Ancient Glass Information Basic Timeline: 3000 BCE first glass objects (small objects such as beads and seals) made in Mesopotamia 1500 BCE first glass vessels made with core-forming technique in Mesopotamia; core-forming technique spread to rest of Mediterranean and dominated glass industry for next 1500 years 1500 BCE creation of glass casting techniques, which had only limited use until the Hellenistic period Hellenistic period reinvigoration of glass casting techniques (323 31 BCE) 1 st century BCE invention of glass blowing technique in Syro-Palestinian region 1 st century CE first mold-blown tablewares produced in Roman Empire Ingredients: Ancient glass was composed of silica (from sand or crushed quartz), which provides the basic structure of glass, lime (as a hardener), and ashes of various plants (for soda, which is an essential binding agent). When heated to a molten state, these ingredients produced a green or greenish-blue glass. Artists added metallic oxides or other elements to the glass mixture to produce other colors. Color: To make this color glass... clear white yellow, amber, and brown red gold-ruby light blue yellowish-green bright blue Purple or aubergine Olive-green black surface iridescence Add this element manganese or antimony tin silver copper gold iron uranium cobalt large amount of manganese oxidized copper mix of manganese, cobalt, and iron; also too much of any element chemical reactions from aging, weathering, and soil contaminants

Diagrams of Production Techniques: Core-forming: Mold-making (2 types): (slumping) (two part mold) Shaping vessels on a wheel: Trailing decoration:

Glass Terminology: Annealing: gradual cooling of finished glass objects to prevent cracking from internal strains Batch: mixture of raw materials prepared for heating in order to make glass Blowing (freeblowing) technique: process of forming glass into a shape without the aid of molds when the glass is in a molten, semi-liquid state; artist heats blowpipe in furnace and gathers molten glass on it; he blows into the blowpipe and glass expands into a bubble; additional glass and color is added and artist shapes glass with objects that hot glass will not burn (wet sticks, wooden molds, pliers, scissors, wire, etc); blowing into molds is also practiced Blowpipe: a hollow metal tube for blowing glass; artist literally blows air into hollow pipe Canes: thin rods of glass; used to form complete vessels or attachments Core-forming technique: creation of vessel by placing molten glass around a core (usually made of clay and sand) Crucible (or pot): containers placed in the furnace for melting glass Cullet: chunks of glass or broken vessels remelted to form vessels Folding-in: making a roll or fold on the interior of a vessel wall Folding-out: making a roll or fold on the exterior of a vessel wall Gather: a mass of molten glass taken from furnace; also to take glass from the furnace Marver: a flat surface of stone or metal on which the gather is rolled to smooth and shape it Marvering: when glass is removed from furnace on a rod and is rolled on a flat surface (marver) to smooth it Mold: a form of one or more parts in which glass is shaped; few have survived from ancient times Mold-blowing technique: a combination of blowing, glass casting, and pottery-molding techniques; artist uses a mold (made of baked clay, wood, or metal) and uses a blowpipe to insert a glob of hot glass into the mold and to inflate the glob to take the form of the mold; artist removes vessel from mold and continues to work with hot, malleable glass to make rims and handles

Mosaic technique: vessel or object made by fusing sections or lengths of cane Polishing: 1) fire-polishing: smoothing and rounding glass by reheating, 2) wheel polishing: grinding and smoothing by the use of a wheel and polishing agent (usually emery) Pontil (or punty): a solid metal rod to which vessels may be transferred from the blowpipe for further working; also used for applying handles and trails Pontil mark: a scar left on the bottom of a vessel after it has been knocked off the pontil Slag: waste from glassmaking Trail: a strip of glass applied to a vessel either to form a handle or for decoration; a very thin trail is called a thread