Roman Glass: Transformation by Fire

If you want a few minutes of sheer pleasure, I suggest this video recreating skilled Roman glassmaking.  The skill of the recreators and of the original craftsman reawakened for me the sense of wonder that glass can and should inspire.

To take sand, a dull earth in the ancient classification of mineral substances, and through the purifying heat of the fire, as the ancients would have thought of it, create a shining, transparent drinking cup or glass was pure magic.  And a reminder of ancient links between kitchens, laboratories, and workshops, between food and the containers for food.

Here’s a brief description of the glass maker from the Corning website.  I’d love to see the full exhibition but with luck I will be able to at least see the pieces on display at the Met in New York.

Among the earliest workshops to design and create mold-blown glass was one in which a man named Ennion worked. Ennion was the first glassmaker to sign his glass objects by incorporating his name into the inscriptions that formed part of the mold’s design, and thus he stands among a small group of glass workers whose names have come down to us from antiquity.

Source: Ennion and His Legacy: Mold-Blown Glass from Ancient Rome | Corning Museum of Glass

Two-handled blue glass cup signed by Ennion. “Roman”, made in a Syrian or North Italian workshop
2nd quarter of the 1st c. CE. Blown in a four-part mold
In the collection of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Adria,
on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York. Photo: Dan Diffendale, Flickr Creative Commons.

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