Artefact #8 →

Roman glass flask

• W03962
• Abbey Museum Reserve Collection
• Roman province, Eastern Mediterranean (modern day Syria or Turkey)
• 2nd – 3rd century AD
• Bowl D 145 mm H 280 mm

This intact Roman bottle is an example of mould blown glass. The technique used developed quickly after the adoption of free-blowing in many Roman provinces. As the name suggests rather than being blown and shaped simultaneously, the molten glass is lowered into a mould first, then blown. The glass expands filling the space in the mould to create a much more symmetrical vessel in less time than free-blowing. The moulds themselves could be quite basic such as in this example, where only the base of the vessel sat in a spherical mould. The seam where the mould joined together can be seen running around the middle section of the bottle above. Some advanced moulds featured reliefs carved in negative that create an embossed design on the outside of the vessel. These were highly prized luxurious goods. Without the need to shape the vessels freely, coupled with the fact that moulds could be used multiple times, production of glass increased on a massive scale.

This may be one of the reasons why natural coloured glass vessels were popular during this time as opposed to coloured glass which required more time to produce.

Many examples of ancient glass have an iridescent coatingwhich can be mistaken as a feature of the vessel. Devitrification occurs when crystalstructures grow inside or on the surface of an amorphous or crystal-free surface. Coloured glass is more intensely affected by this process as the agents, added to colour the glass, cause it cool slowly giving the crystals more time to grow.

Vessels such as this would have been a common sight in a kitchen, used to store liquids or wine. Serving vessels would usually feature a handle and more elaborate designs and decoration.