Roman Glass Jewelry - Wear History Art and Color in Your Jewelery Necklaces, Earrings, Bracelets

Roman Glass is an ancient glass, discovered in				prosperous classes of Roman society. In fact,
archaeological excavation sites in Israel and in				these fine wares were the only glass objects
other Mediterranean countries.The fine Sterling				continually formed via casting, even up to the as
Silver Roman Glass Jewelry is one of the most				Late Flavian, Trajanic, and Hadrianic periods
popular types and styles originated from Israel				(96-138 A.D.), after glassblowing superceded
enabling to wear an entirely unique piece of				casting as the dominant method of glassware
2,000-year-old history. The glass in this aqua-hued				manufacture in the early first century A.D.
jewelry began life as a vase, jug, or vessel.				Blown Glass
Uncovered from ancient Roman archaeological				SOMETIME AROUND 70 B.C., in Jerusalem,
sites in modern-day Israel, each fragment has				someone realized that, if you took a glass tube --
been textured and colored by centuries of wind				then the stock for mass production of beads --
and weather. Each bear the marks of not only its				sealed one end and blew into the other, you could
past life as a household or temple object but also				create a glass bulb. Blow hard enough and long
the very earth in which it rested until being				enough, and you could make a small bottle. This
transformed into a unique accent. Each piece of				was glassblowing at its most primitive. It is quite
Roman glass is framed by a sterling silver bezel.				possible that, without further refinement, this
The designs for the jewels are based on artifacts				moment of experimentation might have passed
and drawings also discovered on the archeological				unnoticed. A couple of decades later, however,
digs. The Roman Glass is a beautiful piece of				the introduction of a separate blowpipe, together
history dating back 2,000 years to the time of				with a tool-kit of variously-sized pincers and
the Roman Empire. The Roman Glass used for				paddles, made it possible to blow and shape glass
jewelry today in Israel is found in archeological				with much greater control, and with much greater
digs throughout the land of Israel. The natural				novelty.
phenomenon which the glass has undergone over				The new technology revolutionized the Italian glass
the many years it has been buried have given it				industry, stimulating an enormous increase in the
the unique and beautiful aqua shades we enjoy				range of shapes and designs that glassworkers
today.Initially, in the Roman empire, glass was				could produce. A glassworker's creativity was no
mainly used for vessels and available only for the				longer bound by the technical restrictions of the
wealthy. At that time, glass was manufactured by				laborious casting process, as blowing allowed for
core forming, casting, cutting and grinding.				previously unparalleled versatility and speed of
However, since the invention of the glass blowing,				manufacture. These advantages spurred a rapid
glass was available to the public in vast numbers,				evolution of style and form, and experimentation
mass produced in a large variety of shapes and				with the new technique led craftsmen to create
forms. Due to the great popularity of glass during				novel and unique shapes; examples exist of flasks
those ancient times, we today are privileged to				and bottles shaped like foot sandals, wine barrels,
make use of these gorgeous historical pieces with				fruits, and even helmets and animals. Some
which we enhance the beauty of our jewelry.				combined blowing with glass-casting and
Ancient Israel, due to its large stretches of sandy				pottery-molding technologies to create the
dunes and beaches, was one of the largest glass				so-called mold-blowing process. Further innovations
producers of the Roman Empire. These same				and stylistic changes saw the continued use of
sands helped preserve the glass through the				casting and free-blowing to create a variety of
centuries, shaping and tempering it into the				open and closed forms that could then be
jewelry-quality pieces being excavated today.				engraved or facet-cut in any number of patterns
Today the fragments of the 2000 years old				and designs.
Roman Glass that were once part of the lip of a				But the potential of a technological idea will only
goblet, jar, or other vessel are used in Israel to				come to fruition if its seed is planted in an
create beautiful jewelry that mixes the typical				encouraging cultural environment. During Rome's
blue and green old glass excavated from				Republican Era, in the dictatorial times of Sulla and
archaeological digs with silver or gold creating a				Julius Caesar, such encouragement seems to
piece of art and history to wear with love.				have been lacking. In the Hellenistic world, the
A certificate of authenticity is available for the				firmly established traditions of working glass --
Roman Glass jewelry.				either by blending threads of it into closed vessel
It is interesting to know some facts about the				forms or by slumping glass over a pre-shaped
glass history and the Roman Glass history,				model for open ones -- were producing fine
collected from several sources.				wares with which the infant technique of
The History of Glass				free-blowing could not yet compete. In the
Glass is formed when sand (silica), soda (alkali),				Roman world, however, pottery was still the
and lime are fused at high temperatures. The				material of choice for everything domestic, from
color of the glass can be altered by adjusting the				fish platters to perfume bottles, and no one
atmosphere in the furnace and by adding specific				seemed to be in any hurry to change that
metal oxides to the glass "batch" (such as cobalt				situation. Enter the Emperor Augustus. It is said
for dark blue, tin for opaque white, antimony and				that he had no love of foreigners; he viewed the
manganese for colorless glass). A venerable				appreciable numbers of them living in Rome
legend perpetuated as late as the seventh				around 10 B.C. as a potential source for the
century A.D. in the writings of Isidore of Seville				corruption of traditional Roman values. If I
gives a suitable miraculous explanation for the				interpret his subsequent actions correctly, he
discovery of this elemental--yet truly				wanted the Italian mainland to be far more
wondrous--material - This was its origin: in a part				self-sufficient wherever possible. So it was that
of Syria which is called Phoenicia, there is a				Italian businesses in certain crafts -- most
swamp close to Judaea, around the base of Mt.				obviously, pottery- and cloth-making -- were
Carmel, from which the Bellus River arises . . .				encouraged to expand. The craft of glassworking
whose sands are purified from contamination by				now was adopted from the Hellenistic world with
the torrent's flow. The story is that here a ship of				much energy and skill. An ancient Industrial
natron [sodium carbonate] merchants had been				Revolution was underway.
shipwrecked; when they were scattered about on				To get things moving, the Romans simply
the shore preparing food and no stones were at				enslaved hundreds of skilled craftsmen in the
hand for propping up their pots, they brought				eastern provinces, uprooting them from their
lumps of natron from the ship. The sand of the				homes and resettling them in the outskirts of
shore became mixed with the burning natron and				rapidly-growing Roman cities. Pottery-makers
translucent streams of a new liquid flowed forth:				were imported from Asia Minor, particularly from
and this was the origin of glass.(Isidore of Seville,				around Pergamum, and put to work at Arretium;
Etymologies XVI.16. Translation by Charles Witke.)				Greek craftsmen were moved from Athens to
It is not surprising that the ancient authorities				Lyons and other cities in central Gaul;
thought of Phoenicia as the birthplace of glass, for				glassworkers were brought in from the provinces
the Syro-Palestine region did indeed become a				of Syria, Judaea, and Aegyptus -- most likely
major center of glass production in antiquity, along				from the cities of Sidon, Jerusalem, and
with Egypt. However, glass seems actually to				Alexandria -- and put to work in shops at Naples,
have been "discovered" not in Phoenicia, but in				Aquileia, and just outside Rome itself.
Mesopotamia. Archaeological research now places				There was an immediate market niche for
the first evidence of true glass there at around				glassware in Augustan times. Like many ancient
2500 B.C. At first it was used for beads, seals,				peoples, the Romans believed in an afterlife that
and architectural decoration.				was an idealized form of their worldly experience.
Some 1,000 years elapsed before glass vessels				According to its means, the family of each dead
are known to have been produced. Vessels of				Roman was obliged to provide furnishings for the
glass quickly became widespread in the second				grave. Such furnishings always included regular
half of the second millennium B.C. They were				domestic items -- plates of food, flasks of wine,
popular not only in Mesopotamia but also in Egypt				and so on -- but it was also a tradition to include
and the Aegean. The earliest vessels were				offerings of perfume. The Roman wealthy would
core-formed. Opaque, dark glass in its molten				put these offerings in bottles (unguentaria) made
state was wound around a clay core attached to				of silver or alabaster. The eastern craftsmen who
a metal rod. The skin of hot glass was fashioned				brought with them the skill of glassblowing now
with tools in order to shape its external features.				offered the rest of the population an alternative in
Lighter colored strands of hot glass were then				glass; to be sure, not something as elegant or
trailed on the surface and often "dragged" to				colorful as might have been wished, but which
produce festoon patterns. The pot surface was				everyone could afford. The free-blown
marvered (that is, rolled on a smooth, flat surface				unguentarium was one of the immediate and
to produce a level finish). Finally, it was cooled				long-term successes of the newly emerging
slowly before the clay core was scraped out of				industry. Modern excavations have revealed many
the hardened vessel. This glassware typically				instances where a grave contains not just one or
imitated forms originally established for ceramic,				two but a couple of dozen of these, all
metal, and stone vessels . Somewhat later, the				mass-produced, each in a matter of minutes at
molding technique was developed, whereby glass				most.
chips or molten glass were packed or forced into				At the same time, glass captured the popular
a mold and then fused. After a molded vessel				imagination by virtue of its translucency. You could
was annealed (cooled slowly in a special chamber				see the color of wine in a beaker, or how well a
of the glass furnace), it was often ground and				bottle was filled even if it was sealed -- which
polished in order to refine the rim and any other				could not be said for items made of pottery, or
rough edges. One typical shape for molded				indeed of bronze, silver, or gold. The production of
vessels of the late Hellenistic and early Roman				wine glasses soared in the Augustan era, actually
periods (c. 150 -50 B.C.) was the so-called				causing the demise of some of the pottery
pillar-molded bowl. Here exterior ribs radiate up				workshops that specialized in traditional beaker
from the base, stopping abruptly near the rim to				types. It was glass's distinctive property of
allow a smooth margin around the circumference.				transparency that stimulated the Emperor Nero's
This type is ubiquitous; and it attests to the free				tutor, Lucius Seneca to observe that " ... Apples
and rapid exchange of ideas in glass-making				seem more beautiful if they are floating in a
throughout the Greater Mediterranean sphere.				glass." (Investigations in Natural Science I.6). And,
The site of Tel Anafa in Israel is a small				from the middle of the first century A.D. onward,
settlement in the Upper Galilee. During ten				squared-sided glass bottles -- typically with
seasons of fieldwork between 1968 and 1986,				capacities in the half- to one-liter range -- were
Saul Weinberg and his successor Sharon Herbert				used for a great deal of the short-range
oversaw the uncovering of part of a small				movement of liquids such as olive oil and the
settlement of the Hellenistic and early Roman				popular fish sauce known as garum. Thus the
periods.				industrialization of glassworking in the Augustan
In Tel Anafa I, Herbert presents the architecture				era came about through the influence of three
and the stratigraphic sequence (text and some				distinct forces: First, by virtue of certain historical
illustrations in fasc. i, locus summary and plates to				events (Augustus's rise to power and his
Chs. 1 and 2 in fasc. ii). The volume also includes				promotion of craft-centralization on the Italian
studies by other scholars of the geological setting				mainland); second, because of a technical
of the site, the stamped amphora handles, coins,				innovation (the invention of glassblowing in one of
vertebrate fauna, and a single Tyrian sealing. Tel				Rome's eastern provinces); and third, the social
Anafa II, i is devoted to the Hellenistic and Roman				pressure related to fashion or taste (a traditional
pottery. A future volume (II, ii) will complete the				link between perfumery and Roman funerary
series with publication of the pre-Hellenistic and				ritual). Change in the Roman glassworking industry
Islamic pottery, lamps, glass, metalware, stucco,				was always most dramatic whenever all three of
stone tools, and the palaeobotanical remains. Tel				these forces came together at one time.
Anafa (recently excavated jointly by the				Uses
Universities of Michigan and Missouri) has provided				At the height of its popularity and usefulness in
critical information on the chronological limits of				Rome, glass was present in nearly every aspect
these bowls within the Roman period. Glass				of daily life-from a lady's morning toilette to a
vessels were initially available only to the very				merchant's afternoon business dealings to the
wealthy and only in rather diminutive sizes. They				evening cena, or dinner. Glass alabastra ,
were manufactured by core forming, casting,				unguentaria, and other small bottles and boxes
cutting and grinding. The invention of glass blowing				held the various oils, perfumes, and cosmetics
around 50 BC brought glass vessels to the				used by nearly every member of Roman society.
general public in vast numbers, mass produced in				Pyxides often contained jewelry with glass
great variety of forms and hence brought ancient				elements such as beads, cameos, and intaglios ,
glass into the reach of the modern collector of				made to imitate semi-precious stone like carnelian,
even modest means. One can nowadays own a				emerald, rock crystal, sapphire, garnet, sardonyx,
Roman glass bowl, or drink from a Roman glass				and amethyst.
beaker, or wear ancient jewellery where glass				Merchants and traders routinely packed, shipped,
was used widely. In 63 BC, the Romans				and sold all manner of foodstuffs and other goods
conquered the Syro-Palestine area. They brought				across the Mediterranean in glass bottles and jars
back with them glassmakers to Rome.Soon after,				of all shapes and sizes, supplying Rome with a
the first transparent glass sheets were produced				great variety of exotic materials from far-off
in Rome. The word vitrum, meaning glass,				parts of the empire. Other applications of glass
entered the Latin language.Rome's political, military,				included multicolored tesserae used in elaborate
and economic dominanace in the Mediterranean				floor and wall mosaics, and mirrors containing
world was a major factor in attracting skilled				colorless glass with wax, plaster, or metal backing
craftsmen to set up workshops in the city, but				that provided a reflective surface. Glass
equally important was the fact that the				windowpanes were first made in the early imperial
establishment of the Roman industry roughly				period, and used most prominently in the public
coincided with the invention of glassblowing. The				baths to prevent drafts. Because window glass in
new technique led craftsmen to create novel and				Rome was intended to provide insulation and
unique shapes; examples exist of flasks and				security, rather than illumination or as a way of
bottles shaped like foot sandals, wine barrels,				viewing the world outside, little, if any, attention
fruits, and even helmets and animals. Some				was paid to making it perfectly transparent or of
combined blowing with glass-casting and				even thickness. Window glass could be either cast
pottery-molding technologies to create the				or blown. Cast panes were poured and rolled over
so-called mold-blowing process. Further innovations				flat, usually wooden molds laden with a layer of
and stylistic changes saw the continued use of				sand, and then ground or polished on one side.
casting and free-blowing to create a variety of				Blown panes were created by cutting and
open and closed forms that could then be				flattening a long cylinder of blown glass. AN
engraved or facet-cut in any number of patterns				INDUSTRY THOUGH Roman glassworking
and designs.				certainly was, it was one that maintained a
Core-formed and cast glass vessels were first				remarkable degree of dynamism over the
produced in Egypt and Mesopotamia as early as				centuries. The shape and decoration of two of its
the fifteenth century B.C., but only began to be				main products -- the unguentarium and the wine
imported and, to a lesser extent, made on the				beaker -- were being modified every few
Italian peninsula in the mid-first millennium B.C. By				decades, sometimes quite sharply, and there
the time of the Roman Republic (509-27 B.C.),				were many new items of glassware introduced
such vessels, used as tableware or as containers				that expanded the glassworker's repertoire in
for expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines, were				significant ways. The way that the Romans
common in Etruria (modern Tuscany) and Magna				committed themselves so heavily to the
Graecia (areas of southern Italy including modern				maintenance of good ports all around the
Campania, Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily). However,				Mediterranean coastline and of fine roads that
there is very little evidence for similar glass				criss-crossed the entire Empire on land was also
objects in central Italian and Roman contexts until				critical for keeping the Roman glassmaking
the mid-first century B.C. The reasons for this are				industry so dynamic. Of course, the main purpose
unclear, but it suggests that the Roman glass				of such maintenance was to assure the easy
industry sprang from almost nothing and				movement of troops from one trouble spot to
developed to full maturity over a couple of				another, and of administrative information from
generations during the first half of the first				one city to another. But these ports and roads
century A.D.				also allowed the movement of people and their
Doubtless Rome's emergence as the dominant				ideas. Signatures and inscriptions in Greek indicate
political, military, and economic power in the				clearly enough that eastern Mediterranean
Mediterranean world was a major factor in				craftsmen settled at various places in northern
attracting skilled craftsmen to set up workshops				Italy and central Gaul; that north African and
in the city, but equally important was the fact				Syrian soldiers were conscripted to serve in the
that the establishment of the Roman industry				army in northern England, thereafter to settle
roughly coincided with the invention of				there as tradesmen; and that businessmen of
glassblowing. This invention revolutionized ancient				every background and philosophical persuasion
glass production, putting it on a par with the other				traded wherever it was to their advantage to do
major industries, such as that of pottery and				so. Thus, every Roman city became a social
metalwares (as 20.49.2-12). Likewise, glassblowing				melting-pot where technical innovations could be
allowed craftsmen to make a much greater				passed on, blending with or displacing old ideas,
variety of shapes than before. Combined with the				sometimes in the space of just a decade or two.
inherent attractiveness of glass-it is nonporous,				The industrial activities of the Roman world
translucent (if not transparent), and odorless-this				responded accordingly, with a freshness of
adaptability encouraged people to change their				purpose and an ongoing rise in skill.
tastes and habits, so that, for example, glass				Jewelry in the Roman Times
drinking cups rapidly supplanted pottery				Ancient Roman glass jewelry reached its height
equivalents.				during the Augustan age, at the beginning of the
In fact, the production of certain types of native				Empire. This meant that in many ways the glass
Italian clay cups, bowls, and beakers declined				jewelry were deprived of much of the
through the Augustan period, and by the mid-first				expressive freedom one might expect and hope
century A.D. had ceased altogether.However,				for. The buyers of this fine artistic jewelry were
although blown glass came to dominate Roman				the conservative political. The period of peace
glass production, it did not altogether supplant cast				achieved during the rule of Augustus and
glass. Especially in the first half of the first century				Augustus made this possible, especially after the
A.D., much Roman glass was made by casting,				vicious fighting of the Roman civil wars. Ancient
and the forms and decoration of early Roman				Roman jewelry in earlier times was derived from
cast vessels demonstrate a strong Hellenistic				both Hellenistic and Etruscan jewelry. In addition,
influence. The Roman glass industry owed a great				as Roman jewelry designs freed itself of
deal to eastern Mediterranean glassmakers, who				Hellenistic and Etruscan influences, greater use
first developed the skills and techniques that				was made of colored stones such as: topazes,
made glass so popular that it can be found on				emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. Trojan and
every archaeological site, not only throughout the				Cretan artisans of the Minoan period, although
Roman empire but also in lands far beyond its				working at opposite ends of the Aegean region,
frontiers.				crafted earrings, bracelets, and necklaces of a
Cast Glass				common type that persisted from about 2500 BC
Although the core-formed industry dominated				to the beginning of the Classical period of Greek
glass manufacture in the Greek world, casting				art 479 BC - 323 BC.
techniques also played an important role in the				Roman jewelry was highly influenced by some of
development of glass in the ninth to fourth				the designs of the places they conquered and
centuries B.C. Cast glass was produced in two				established connections with. The creators spared
basic ways-through the lost-wax method and with				no effort in making some of the most exquisite
various open and plunger molds. The most				and ornamental compositions. Rings were a major
common method used by Roman glassmakers				symbol in the body of ancient Roman jewelry.
for most of the open-form cups and bowls in the				Ornamental Roman jewelry was worn by women
first century B.C. was the Hellenistic technique of				of high status. They often wore jewelry on their
sagging glass (81.10.243) over a convex "former"				ears, neck, arms and hands. Ancient Roman
mold. However, various casting and cutting				designs and fashion jewelry also included seal
methods were continuously utilized as style and				rings, amulets and talismans. The cameo and hoop
popular preference demanded. The Romans also				earrings were introduced in ancient Roman times.
adopted and adapted various color and design				Ancient Roman glass jewelry reached its height
schemes from the Hellenistic glass traditions,				during the Augustan age, at the beginning of the
applying such designs as network glass and				Empire. This meant that in many ways the glass
gold-band glass to novel shapes and forms.				jewelry were deprived of much of the
Distinctly Roman innovations in fabric styles and				expressive freedom one might expect and hope
colors include marbled mosaic glass, short-strip				for. The buyers of this fine artistic jewelry were
mosaic glass, and the crisp, lathe-cut profiles of a				the conservative political. The period of peace
new breed of fine as monochrome and colorless				achieved during the rule of Augustus and
tablewares of the early empire, introduced around				Augustus made this possible, especially after the
20 A.D. This class of glassware became one of				vicious fighting of the Roman civil wars.
the most prized styles because it closely				The gold beads of ancient Rome were artfully
resembled luxury items such as the highly valued				shaped to create images of flowers and animals.
rock crystal objects, Augustan Arretine ceramics				The most common fact that is assumed by most
(as 10.210.37), and bronze and silver tablewares				is that the ancient Roman jewelry has a similar
(as 20.49.2-12) so favored by the aristocratic and				resembles to the Greek and Etruscan jewelry.

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Roman Glass Jewelry - Wear History Art and Color in Your Jewelery Necklaces, Earrings, Bracelets