Page 115 - Lazar, Irena. 2022. Pogled skozi steklo / A Look Through the Glass. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem. Libri universitatis hereditati, 1
P. 115
142). The second flask was blown in a mould hibited in the collection of the Budva museum. glassmaterialfromtheromannecropolisofbudvainthesocialandeconomiccontextoftheempire 115
with a sunken honey-comb pattern and also has These are the finds from the first rescue excava-
a pattern on the base – two diamonds with con- tion and campaigns in the years 1936, 1938, and
cave sides in raised outline surrounding an um- 1951 to 1957. There is another double-head flask
bilicus. An identical bottle was found in a grave of manganese glass with Medusa heads (figure/
in Zadar which is dated to the end of the 1st cen- slika 52) and a bottle with a chubby face; the lat-
tury (Fadić and Štefanac 2014, 400). est seems to be of a younger generation of these
products, i.e. from the 3rd century or even later
Figure 52: Double head flask from old excavations, simi- (Stern 1995, 209, nos. 74–5; Foy 2010, 264). The
lar to the flask from the grave V. Museums and Galleries publication and review of these finds would give
of Budva, Montenegro. additional important information regarding
Slika 52: Steklenička z dvojnim obrazom iz starejših izko- mould-blown glass and grave assemblages.
pavanj, sorodna steklenički iz groba V. Muzeji in galerije
Budve, Črna gora. From the Flavian period on there is a shift
away in the taste from coloured wares and
In this context, we have to mention that mould-blown glass to decolourised glass which
several unpublished mould-blown vessels are ex- resembles the precious and luxury items made
of rock-crystal (Grose 1991, 2–5; Lazar 2020c,
340). The colourless products which were more
or less perfectly decolourized with manganese
or antimony remain in fashion and production
through the whole 2nd and the 3rd century. It is as-
tonishing how widespread the use of colourless
glass was, as according to Pliny (NH 34,199), it
appeared as the most valued variety of glass in
the last quarter of the 1st century and at the be-
ginning of the 4th century apparently remained
the most expensive (Diocletian’s Price Edict –
PE, see Stern 1999, 460–3; Whitehouse 2004,
189–91).
Vessel glass was sold by weight and the PE
uses the word pondo for vessel glass (Stern 2007,
374), and they reflect the amount of raw material
for the vessel’s production, not the amount of la-
bour or its degree of aesthetic perfection. In the
PE’s price of thirty denarii per Roman pound is
set for the vessels made of Alexandrian colour-
less glass, the highest price for the listed glass
products (p. 375).2 If we compare the price with
the minimum daily wage for unskilled labour
(25 denarii) and skilled labour (50 to 60 denarii)
(p. 384) we could imagine, to whom these prod-
ucts were available.
No colourless products made in moulds and
decorated with facets, most typical for the Flavi-
2 The average weight of a late Roman glass vessel is approx.
150–350 g.
with a sunken honey-comb pattern and also has These are the finds from the first rescue excava-
a pattern on the base – two diamonds with con- tion and campaigns in the years 1936, 1938, and
cave sides in raised outline surrounding an um- 1951 to 1957. There is another double-head flask
bilicus. An identical bottle was found in a grave of manganese glass with Medusa heads (figure/
in Zadar which is dated to the end of the 1st cen- slika 52) and a bottle with a chubby face; the lat-
tury (Fadić and Štefanac 2014, 400). est seems to be of a younger generation of these
products, i.e. from the 3rd century or even later
Figure 52: Double head flask from old excavations, simi- (Stern 1995, 209, nos. 74–5; Foy 2010, 264). The
lar to the flask from the grave V. Museums and Galleries publication and review of these finds would give
of Budva, Montenegro. additional important information regarding
Slika 52: Steklenička z dvojnim obrazom iz starejših izko- mould-blown glass and grave assemblages.
pavanj, sorodna steklenički iz groba V. Muzeji in galerije
Budve, Črna gora. From the Flavian period on there is a shift
away in the taste from coloured wares and
In this context, we have to mention that mould-blown glass to decolourised glass which
several unpublished mould-blown vessels are ex- resembles the precious and luxury items made
of rock-crystal (Grose 1991, 2–5; Lazar 2020c,
340). The colourless products which were more
or less perfectly decolourized with manganese
or antimony remain in fashion and production
through the whole 2nd and the 3rd century. It is as-
tonishing how widespread the use of colourless
glass was, as according to Pliny (NH 34,199), it
appeared as the most valued variety of glass in
the last quarter of the 1st century and at the be-
ginning of the 4th century apparently remained
the most expensive (Diocletian’s Price Edict –
PE, see Stern 1999, 460–3; Whitehouse 2004,
189–91).
Vessel glass was sold by weight and the PE
uses the word pondo for vessel glass (Stern 2007,
374), and they reflect the amount of raw material
for the vessel’s production, not the amount of la-
bour or its degree of aesthetic perfection. In the
PE’s price of thirty denarii per Roman pound is
set for the vessels made of Alexandrian colour-
less glass, the highest price for the listed glass
products (p. 375).2 If we compare the price with
the minimum daily wage for unskilled labour
(25 denarii) and skilled labour (50 to 60 denarii)
(p. 384) we could imagine, to whom these prod-
ucts were available.
No colourless products made in moulds and
decorated with facets, most typical for the Flavi-
2 The average weight of a late Roman glass vessel is approx.
150–350 g.
