Blowing Glass from Chunks Instead of Molten Glass: Archaeological and Literacy Evidence

• Published in: Journal of glass studies 2012-01, Vol.54, p.33-45
• Main Author: Stern, E Marianne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0075-4250

A glassblower preparing to blow an object usually begins by dipping the blowpipe into molten glass in order to collect a gather of glass on the tip of the pipe. Archaeological and literary evidence indicates that this was not always the normal procedure in antiquity. The peculiar bicolored design of several blown vessels dating to the first century A.D. shows that glassblowers throughout the Roman Empire started their pieces by attaching one or more chunks of solid glass to the tip of the blowpipe. This practice is confirmed by two ancient Greek poems describing glass-blowers at work. The fact that the ancient Greek technical term for gathering preserves a reference to solid glass suggests that picking up solid chunks of glass was the original method of gathering. The finds from a mid-first-century workshop at Avenches show the type of furnace and equipment to be expected in a workshop operated by glassblowers who routinely heated chunks of glass individually on the tip of the pipe. The gathering of molten glass did not become customary until sometime in the second half of the first century. Both practices had advantages and disadvantages. (Author abstract)