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Catalog Data

Artist:
Unidentified (Roman)  Search this
Medium:
glass
Dimensions:
4 5/8 x 7/8 in. (11.7 x 2.3 cm) diam. excluding handles
Type:
Decorative Arts-Glass
Date:
4th century A.D. - 5th century A.D.
Luce Center Label:
Most of the glass vessels in this case date from the first century BC to the fourth century AD. Early glass vessels were made in the Middle East and Egypt using the core-forming technique, in which molten glass was poured over a clay core and decorated with threads of colored glass. During the first century AD, Rome became the center of glassmaking, and the invention of blown glass led to new methods, including free-blown glass, which could be decorated by pinching, rolling, or dragging the surface, and mold-blown glass, in which the molten glass was blown into a terra-cotta mold. The Romans also developed stratified glass, in which different colored canes were fused together and blown <b>[see 1929.8.147.1, 1929.8.147.2]</b>, and millefiori glass (Italian for “one-thousand flowers”), in which colored strips of glass were joined together into a rod, cut into slices, and fused into bowls and cups <b>[see 1929.8.147.13, 1929.8.157.9]</b>. Many glass vessels were buried in the tombs of wealthy Romans and this contact with damp soil over hundreds of years caused the surface of the glass to deteriorate and become iridescent <b>[see 1929.8.147.37, 1929.8.157.22]</b>.
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly
Object number:
1929.8.157.45
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Decorative Arts
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 52A
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7020d6a8e-d8c5-4f5d-9fc7-88004b20eb78
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1929.8.157.45