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Introduction
Over the period 1996-1998, during the preparation of the traveling
exhibition, Roman Glass: Reflections
on Cultural Change, accurate drawings of 265 vessels in the University
of Pennsylvania’s Museum collections of Roman glassware were created by artists
Jennifer Hook and Veronica Socha. This website presents those drawings, all on a scale of one-to-one,
in fourteen categories of vessel form. Each vessel is shown in half
section, so that both surface features
(e.g., mold-blown decoration and added motifs) and structural elements
(e.g., foot rings and rim curves) are displayed. The translucent nature
of glass makes it almost impossible to accurately reproduce its color
as we
see it, and overlaying any color on a vessel’s
line art always partially obscures some of its exterior decoration
and stipple-defined curvature. Instead the color scheme of each vessel
is included in its individual description, according to the “palette” shown
in the color swatch page.
When two colors are given, the first color idicates body color while the second one indicates the color of decoration.
The distinctive opaque reds and emerald greens used by Roman glassworkers
are not included there, since the Museum’s vessels include only one example
of their use. We are able to illustrate their appearance here, however,
with the close-ups of two early 1st century A.D. mosaic-ware dishes.
(For a more detailed discussion of such wares, see Glassmaking
in Roman Times.) The opaque white glass
vessels that also were popular at that time defy simulation both in
terms of their color and the distinctive “egg shell” luster of their surface.
The swatch shown here—a close-up of a cameo—can be regarded as typical for
wherever that color is ascribed to such vessels in this website. |
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Opaque red
MS 5383z |
Opaque white
1st century A.D. cameo |
Opaque yellow
MS 3369s |
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Many
of the glass vessels in this website originate from Roman Judea
(for find spots, see Roman Judea). The most intense excavation
of Roman Glass by the University of Pennsylvania Museum was undertaken
by Gerald M. Fitzgerald in the late
1920s at Beth Shean (see Tomb Finds for details of this site's cemeteries).
Some of the more interesting vessels in the Museum's collection are
marked with FGRW and
discussed in detail in Fine
Glassware in the Roman World.
Many other aspects of the glassware displayed in the exhibition, Roman
Glass: Reflections on Cultural Change, are discussed
in the catalogue of the same name (see www.romanglass.net)
and in the companion websites:
Roman Wine: A Window on an Ancient Economy
Roman Wine: Windows on a Lifestyle
Fine Glassware in the Roman World
Glassmaking in Roman Times |
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SELECTED REFERENCES
Webmaster: LeAnne Sellen
For questions about the technical aspects of this website, please contact Lindsay Shafer
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