ROMAN GLASS FUNNEL or INFUNDIBULUM
FUNNEL or INFUNDIBULUM of Hans van Rossum
Date: 1st century A.D. | Roman Empir Size: ↑9.2 cm | ø max. 5.4 cm | Weight: 10 g
Technique Free blown
Classification Morin-Jean: 1977: 146-7, Form 117 | Isings 1957, Form 74
Condition Intact, with traces of brown encrustation
Description Transparent pale green, very thin glass; bell-shaped body. Rim outdplayed and turned up at lip, which was cracked off and fire-polished; long and conical spout. Lower rim apparently fire-polished too.
Remarks I Although they are not common, glass funnels have a wide distribution in the Mediterranean and the western provinces. Examples have been found at Rome, Naples, and Pompeii and numerous other places. Funnels, which were also made of metal and earthenware, were used in the kitchen and by physicians and perfume sellers for decanting small quantities of liquid. Spouts of the glass funnels are often found damaged. An intact example is rare.
Remarks II The weight of this funnel is only 10 gram(!), the result of using very thin glass, a characteristic for a production during the first century A.D.
Provenance Arte Primitivo NewYork, auction 11 June 2021 lot no. 665
Private collection USA, acquired from Fortuna Fine Arts Ltd in 2000
with Fortuna Fine Arts Ltd. ; Solid Liquid 1999 cat. no. 123
Reference Mémoires de Verre de l’archéologie à l’art contemporain, C. Vandour 2009 no. 132f
Bonhams Antiquities London, auction 22 September 1998 lot no. 237
Ancient Glass in the Hermitage Collection, N. Kunina 1997 nos. 384 – 385
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass – Volume I, D. Whitehouse 1997 no. 354
Vetri antichi del Museo Vetrario di Murano, G.L. Ravagnan 1994 no. 397
Verres Antiques et de l’Islam, Ancienne Collection de Monsieur D., G. Loudmer & A. – M. Kevorkian 3 & 4 Juin 1985 lot 244
Verrerie d´Epoque Romaine, Collection des Musées Départementaux de Seine Maritime, G. Sennequier 1985 no. 306
Lateinischen Gefäβnamen, W. Hilgers 1969 no. 198
Römisches geformtes Glas in Köln, Band VI, F. Fremersdorf 1961 Tafel 49. nos. 941, N 997 & N 998, from burials on the Luxemburger Straβe, Cologne
THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE ROMAN GLASS PITCHERS FROM COLOGNE
Blue colored glass has been made since the very beginning of glass making. Most blue glass is given its color either from cobalt oxide or from copper oxide finely ground and added to the molten glass. Copper is a more delicate colorant than cobalt. It only requires a small amount of cobalt oxide to produce a deep rich blue. In Cologne Germany between the 3rd and 4th centuries exceptionally beautiful blue glass pitchers were made. This pictorial post accents these pitchers.
Click on the active link more of their collection THE ROMAN-GERMANIC MUSEUM IN COLOGNE
ENGLISH GLASS IN THE VENETIAN STYLE BY GIACOMO VERZELINI
English Façon de VeniseGlass By Giacomo Verzelini
Giacomo (Jacopo) Verzelini, a Venetian glass maker moved to England in 1574 and was hired by Jean Carré, a French native and owner of the Crutched Friars Glasshouse. Carré died the following year, and in 1575, Verzelini was placed in charge of the glasshouse. The Crown gave him a 21-year monopoly on the making of Venetian glass in England. His interests were further protected by an embargo on the importation of glass from Venice.
The object pictured above is at the Corning Museum of Glass. Many of the goblets made at Verzelini’s glasshouse were diamond-point engraved by Anthony de Lysle, who had immigrated from France. Below are two additional views of this glass.
Additional examples below
History of Venetian and Façon de Venise Wine Glasses
Venice became the dominant glass manufacturing center from the 15th to the end of the 16th century. Glass objects in the Venetian style are of the finest quality light weight glass with attributes like delicacy, elaborateness, colorfulness (enamel decoration) created by highly skilled glass workers. Byzantine craftsmen and glass workers played an important role in the development of Venetian glass when they migrated from Constantinople to Venice in 1204 and again in 1453. Towards the end of the 13th century, the center of the Venetian glass industry was moved to Murano. By the 16th century, Venetian artisans had gained even greater control over the color and transparency of their glass and had mastered a variety of decorative techniques. Murano artisans used specialized tools in the making of their glass. Some of these tools include borselle (tongs or jacks used to form the hot glass), soffietta (known as a puffer and used to inflate a vessel after it has been transferred to the punty), pontello or punty (an iron rod to which the craftsman attaches the glass after blowing to add final touches), scagno (the glass-master’s work bench) and tagianti (large glass-cutting clippers). Near the end of the 16th century Venice started to lose control over the luxury glass market. By the 17th century Façon de Venise (in the style of Venetian glass) was adopted in many countries of Europe and England. It should be noted that at approximately the same time period as the Venetians, highly skilled glassworkers were also busy in Altare. It is quite difficult to make a distinction between glass objects made in Venice or Altare. It is sometimes stated that the spreading of the art of making sophisticated glass over Europe mainly came from trained glass workers from Altare as there was a ban on the free movement of glass workers from Venice. What we nowadays call Façon de Venise glass made in Spain, France, and the Netherlands can be seen as the combined contributions of glass workers from Altare and Venice. The renaissance of glass making in Britain can also be attributed to glass workers from Italy. It remains quite difficult and tricky declaring glasses of Venetian/Altarian origin or Façon de Venise. For some it is quite clear, and others can fall either way. Verre de Fougère is a sub-type of Façon de Venise glass from France and refers to glass made using fern-ash as a flux. The ash can give a specific “smoky”, brownish, ginger or sandy coloring to the glass.
NAMING: STEM FORMATIONS A TO Z ON VENETIAN AND FAÇON DE VENISE WINE GLASSES (active link)
OIL LAMP WITH THREE LOOPED HANDLES
Oil Lamp With Three Looped Handles
of
The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass
Date: 325-355 A.D. Kisa form: F345.
Size: Height: 12.6 cm | Ø Mouth: 6.7-7.0 cm | Ø Body : 9.6 cm| Weight: 137 gr.
Technique: Freely blown bottle with extended neck and upwards extended rim.
Bottle of amber colored glass, that now glows golden, and dark blue ornaments for the meandering around the mid-body, one thin line encircling the shoulder of the body, plus three looped handles brought up from the shoulder to the rim.
Production: possibly Israel*.
Description: Kisa F 345. *This kind of vessel also may have been in use as a storage cup for good offerings, when placed among grave goods (Seligman et al. 1996), according to Stuart Fleming.
The blue meandering lines are created perfectly well all around the body as if a series of waves is passing by, with a perfect top at the height of each wave,
Condition: Complete with a few cracks, heavy gold and white iridescense that emphasizes the way the bottle was blown and twisted.
Remarks: The three loops implicate the bottle to be a lamp, rather than a unguent pot. Stuart Fleming states that these vessels, although used as lamps, were placed in the graves as pots to give the deceased their necessary ointment into the here-after.
The zig-zag meandering comes from the frequently used color-ornaments in the sand core-technique of ages before.
The line on the belly of the body, that seems to occur on all similar kind of lamps, might be the line of indication to fill the lamp with oil.
Provenance: Previously unpublished. Brought into the Augustinus collection in the nineteen fifties.
Reference: Kisa, La Baume, Kunina, Stuart Fleming: E.18/E.20
AcoaG # 71.2 side view 
AcoaG # 71.3 top view 
AcoaG # 71.4 bottom view
FAÇON DE VENICE CYLINDRICAL GOBLET
Façon De Venice Cylindrical Goblet
of the Henk-Martin Goldschmidt collection
Description: Glass of greyish tint, the large cylindrical straight-sided chalice with applied and pincered trail at the base (15 pinches), set on a merese, the stem comprising a ribbed and gilded cushion knob set on a merese between two plain sections, above a plain cushion knob, over a conical folded foot. The ribbed vertical knob (22 ribs) is decorated with gold.
Material: Cristallo glass with a greyish tint, traces of gold gilding
Dimensions: Total height 15.3 cm, diameter foot 7.7 cm, diameter chalice 8.7 cm, weight 142 gram, lightness ratio (= volume in ml / weight in gr) is calculated as 3.1 ml/gr. Such a high number is illustrative of glasses produced in Venice or by Venetian masters. The thinness of the glass of a chalice is 1.1 mm for a typical renaissance venetian glass while in this case is 1.4 mm, i.e. 27% thicker.
Condition: Perfect, no damage or imperfections
Date: Around 1600, plus or minus 25 years. The various references vary quiet a lot. However, because of the gilding, it has to be produced after 1530 (the technique was then invented). And also because of the archeological findings and parallel’s a dating around 1600 seems probable. Glasses with the same function and dated one century earlier and from Venice have a different foot and stem (ref 1, pag 204 – 206).
Origin: Façon de Venice: two options seem to appear. Based upon stylish features such as shape and color, Hall-in-Tirol was suggested (ref 2). The shape of the knob fitts this as well (ref 3). Based upon archaeological findings The Lower Countries (Mechelen and Liege / Maastricht) were suggested (ref 4). A good description on how the cooperation and exchange between the towns of South Germany, Hall near Innsbruck and Venice is given by Edward Dillon (ref 5). The lightness ratio of 3.1 ml/gr suggests a Venetian origin. At this point in time is the best estimate: Central Europe. Because of the height of the cylinder, it is not likely to be a reliquary however for a regular wine glass it has a rather large content: 446 ml. Reliquary’s can typically be associated with the catholic religion and the geographical areas within that is practiced. The Northern European, protestant areas possible possibly like the shape of this type of glasses but gave it another use such as for celebration wine drinking (ref 6). Henkes (ref 4) describes this type of glass as luxurious table glass (a show glass). It is hard to distinguish if, in this case, the cover is missing. But because of this reasoning that becomes unlikely.
Provenance: Collection Bomers-Marres (Number BM 22, ref 6), then The Overduin Collection via Laméris in 2006, Amsterdam, auctioned at Bonhams in May 2014 as lot number 4 but not sold (ref 2), it was acquired from the late Constant Vecht, Amsterdam on March 11th 2016.
Parallels and buildup: Glasses with bowls of similar shape are illustrated in ref. 1. Very often lionhead’s or masks are presented on the stem. A doomed lit accompanies also often the glasses of typically around 30 cm, double the height of this glass.
Regarding the joint between the cylindrical chalice and its bottom three options were found:
- Plain, with no decoration (e.g., Hamburger collection, FH 67, page 58-59, ref 7, and Reflects de Venice, page 94-95, ref 8, and Bomers-Marres collection, BM21, page 18, ref 6, and Veste Coburg collection, number 312, page 320-322, ref 1, and Corning museum of glass, number 2005.3.119, and Liaunig collection, part II, page 16 – 17, ref 9)
- A thread added with some incisions (e.g., the glass discussed here, Corning Museum Of Glass, number 79.3.997, with an applied and notched band of glass)
- A thread added with multiple incisions (e.g., number 475, Krug collection, part II, page 105, ref 10, and 46.19 Henkes, page 209, ref 4, and Reflects de Venice, page 116-117, ref 8, and Kunstgewerbemuseum in Prague, number 21, page 37, ref 11)
It feels as if the cylinder and its bottom were manufactured in one run and afterwards the rim was added. This can also be seen with the glass in the Liaunig collection (part I, page 26 – 27, ref 9).
Conclusion: The decorated joint between the cylinder and the chalice bottom as well as the ribbed knob with gold gilding are characteristic for this goblet. This specific patron of incisions could not be found elsewhere. Glasses with this form are found in churches for relics (high cylinder) or on paintings together with other table ware (low cylinder). Gold gilding appears to be present in both types and is, because of the functions described, understandable.
Comment and Reply:
“As I understand it the gold on the knop is not applied by Gilding but by rolling the hot glass in gold leaf, gathering over it and then blowing into an optic mold. Gilding is the application of gold to the surface of an object using gilders size and therefore a process done cold.” by James Carcass
Reply: Thanks for your valid correction. For an in depth essay of the various processes in joining gold with glass I refer to “Gold Leaf, Paint & Glass by Francis Federer (2013) with an introduction by William (Bill) Gudenrath explaining the various techniques”. Here in the blog I used the wording ‘gold gilding’ merely as ‘glass with gold on it’ with no reference to the technique used. Although by putting 1530 as a date to count from in dating the glass that means the process of hot fusion was used probably. A careful observation of the knob confirms so as well (see picture of knop).
References:
1. Venezianisches glas der Veste Coburg, Anna-Elisabeth Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Luca Verlag, Lingen, 1994, pages 320 – 322
2. Catalogue Bonhams, Auction May 21st 2014, London, lot 4 unsold
3. Die Glashutten zu Hall en Insbruck, Erich Egg, Universitatsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck, 1962, abb 30 und 41
4. Glass without gloss, Harold E Henkes, Rotterdam Papers 9, 1994, pages 209 – 210
5. Glass, Edward Dillon, Methuen and Co, London, 1907, pages 271 – 273
6. Anna and Kitty Laméris, The glass shape throughout the centuries. Collection Bomers-Marres (in Dutch), 2006, Amsterdam, pages 10, 18-19
7. A life with glass. The Fred Hamburger Collection, Kitty and Anna Laméris, Amsterdam, 2019, pages 58 – 59
8. Reflets de Venise, Erwin Baumgartner, Publications Du Vitro Centre Romont, 2015, Number 29, pages 94 – 95 (i.e. Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG), accession number 2005.3.119) and number 40, pages 116 – 118
9. Catalogues Sammlung Liaunig (low cylinder), Glas part I and II, page 24 and 26
10. Catalogue Sammlung Helfried Krug, Birgitte Klesse, Part II, Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn, 1973, number 475, page 104-5
11. Venezianisches Glas, Karel Hettes, Artia Praha, 1960, page 37 and abb 21
ISLAMIC GLASS MEDALLION WITH SIMURGH AND RIDER
Islamic Glass Medallion With Simurgh And Rider
of
The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass
Size: Ø: 6.85 cm | Thickness: 2.5/1.98 cm| Ø Knob backside : 2.0 cm| Weight: 80 g.|
Technique: Almost round, or roughly elliptical, black glass medallion pressed in prominent relief. On the front side a horse-like animal with rider, progressing to the left; on the backside, in eccentric position, a knob or extension to place the roundel in a stucco wall piece, window or glass tile panel*; also four separate symbolic figures are pressed in circular position.
Description: Islamic glass medallion of medieval times, with Simurgh and Rider formed by means of pressing the glass in a mold. A male rider in tunic and with turban – probably a knight – holds with his left arm a bag over his left shoulder. A musical instrument is also a possibility. The center of his body holds a circular depression to the level of the background. The edge of the roundel on front-side has a white residue, probably plaster, all around. The Simurgh is walking to the left, the head bowed down, with half-open beak, short horn on the forehead, ears pointed backwards, the tail is pointing strongly upwards. The body similar to a horse has legs with hoofs that are split in three.
Condition: In very good condition and in sharp relief; with some remnants of plaster all around the edge, almost no weathering or iridescence. Four vaguely impressed symbols of animals like birds, or Simurgh again, on backside.
Remarks: * Some seventy medallions are known from museum and private collections. They vary in measurement from four to ten centimeters and in a variety of colors from black to yellow green.
Literature: David Whitehouse, Stefano Carboni, Robert Brill and William Gudenrath in:
Glass of the Sultans, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 2002.
Sassanian and Post-Sassanian Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, NY, 2005.
Provenance: From a private Dutch collection, previously unpublished, said to originate from a British-Palestinian collection in Jerusalem, formed in the late nineteen twenties.
TWO ANCIENT GLASS CUPS
Two appealing cups; Two different periods
125E, 61R
125E of The Allaire Collection Merovingian Beaker with Festoons
Description: Pale bluish-green glass beaker was shaped by blowing into an open mold. The decoration features self-trails applied and tooled into a festoon pattern, a common design used on glass vessels of the Migration Period. At the rim a slight flare is present with a cracked-off edge. Intact, some weathering. In the collection there is another beaker like this one with a larger bowl. i See it below and at #124E(active link).
Date: 5th C. AD
Size: H 6.0 cm, D 9.5 cm
Ref: Hans Cohn Collection #111, Vaudour-Memoires de Verre de L’Archeologie a L’Art Contemporain, Catherine Vaudour, 2009 #67, and #68, Price-Glass in Britain and Ireland AD 350-1100, Edited by Jennifer Price, British Museum Occasional Paper# 1272000 p. 201 Colour Pl. 1
–
–
61R of The Allaire Collection Roman Acetabulum Cup
Remarks: Romans often drank a mixture of vinegar and water and had a special container for this called an acetabulum. This is from the Latin acetum (vinegar) and abulum the suffix denoting a small vessel. Today the word is used only as a medical term to describe the cup-like shape in your hip that the thigh bone sits in. Usually made of pottery, some in the first Century, as in this example were made of glass and often found in Italian graves.
Diameter: 6 cm
Date: First Century AD
cf: Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass Vol. I, David Whitehouse, 1997 #125
DARK PURPLE UNGUENTARIUM
DARK PURPLE UNGUENTARIUM of Joop van der Groen
DARK PURPLE UNGUENTARIUM
Roman Empire, Eastern Mediterranean │ 1st century AD
Size: ↑ 5,2 cm; Ø max. 3,9 cm; Ø rim 1,6 cm. │ Weight: 13 gram
Technique: Free blown. Tooled.
Classification: Vessberg (1956) flask type A.III.y
Description: Transparent dark purple glass. Body with globular sides. Conical shoulder with bulging sides. Cylindrical neck with constriction at bottom. Rim folded outward, upward and inward. Flat base, slightly indented. No pontil mark.
Condition: Intact.
Remarks: These small, typical formed perfume bottles have been made in glass of many different colours, for example in bluish-green, grayisch-green, cobaltblue, purple, amber and colourless glass.
The basic colour of Roman glass is bluish-green. This has been caused because sand (the main element for making raw glass) has been polluted by iron oxide. By addition of some percents manganese oxide in the raw glass the colour changed into purple / aubergine.
Provenance: 2006 Jürgen Haering Galerie am Museum, Freiburg (Germany).
Reference: De Constable-Maxwell Collection of Ancient Glass – The Property of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Constable-Maxwell (Sotheby, Parke Bernet, 1979), no. 87; Ancient Glass – The Bomford Collection of Pre-Roman & Roman Glass on loan to the City of Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (N. Thomas, 1976), no. 55; Glas der Antike – Kestner-Museum Hannover (U. Liepmann, 1982), no. 63; Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass – Vol. I (D. Whitehouse, 1997), no. 248; The Fascinating of Ancient Glass – Dolf Schut Collection (M. Newby & D. Schut, 1999), no. 61; A collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC – 500 AD (P. Arts, 2000), no. 28; Vetri Antichi del Museo Archeologico di Udine (M. Buora, 2004), no. 33; Les Verres Antiques du Musée du Louvre II (V. Arveiller-Dulong & M-D. Nenna, 2005), no. 838; Vetri Antichi del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia – Balsamari, olle e pissidi (L. Mandruzzato & A. Marcante, 2007), no. 224.
ROMAN TALL CYLINDRICAL BOTTLE
TALL CYLINDRICAL BOTTLE of Hans van Rossum
Date: Late 1st century – 2nd century AD | Origin:Roman Empire, probably Asia Minor
Size↑25.0 cm | ø 9.0 cm | Weight 374 g
Technique: Body mold-blown in a full-size and conical mold. Neck and mouth free blown. Handle applied, tooled.
Classification: Isings 1957 form 51b | Fleming 1999 handle type c. MS 5128
Description: Transparent yellowish brown glass. Cylindrical body and short cylindrical neck; rim folded outward, down, upward, and outward to form a collar with a horizontal ledge. Shoulder slopes, with rounded edge; wall tapers slightly and curves in at bottom; base plain, slightly concave on underside; no pontil. Strap handle with four ribs, applied onto edge, drawn up and in, and attached immediately below rim, with excess glass pulled down neck.
Condition: Intact, some slightly weathering
Remarks: The glass blower has used a smooth-walled mold, which facilitated mass production. The collar rim with a ledge is an eastern Mediterranean feature, although it is not common in Palestine, Syria or Egypt. Finds appear to be concentrated farther north, in Cyprus, Asia Minor, Greece and on the coasts of the Black Sea. Cylindrical bottles with a collar rim have an even wider distribution including North Africa. The outline of the rim has parallels in pottery and metal vessels from Pergamon, a circumstance that has led to the hypothesis that the collar rim might be a Pergamene speciality and that the workshop or workshops producing this type of rim may have been located in that area.
Provenance: Art market New York 2010 Private collection, Florida (USA)
Reference: Ancient Glass in National Museums Scotland, C. S. Lightfoot no. 181, Römische Kleinkunst, Sammlung Karl Löffler, P. La Baume no. 99, Tafel 12, Ancient Glass in the Hermitage Collection, N. Kunina nos. 235 – 237, Kunst der Antike, Galerie Günter Puhze, Katalog 16-2002 no. 240
EARLY AMERICAN GLASS PATTY PANS
Early American Glass Patty Pans in The Allaire Glass Collection
These pans or bowls were essentially molds used for serving either butter or savory jellies, such as calves shin jelly, pigs shin jelly and salted bone marrow and other delicious comestibles that required to be set. Sweet jellies would be served in jelly glasses. The name ‘patty pan’ can be traced back to sweet and savory pies called Petites Pates. These were quite popular in during the 17th century.
72A Patty pan or bowl has been blown in a mold whose interior has a raised pattern so that the glass object shows the pattern with a concavity on the inside underlying the convexity of the outside. It has an outward folded rim and a rough pontil. Date: 1825-1850 Dia: 6 inches Height: 1 1/8 inches
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