Few scholars can hope to contribute as much to their chosen field as Jenny Price did to the study of Roman Glass. The introduction of this book profiles Jenny Price's achievements and is accompanied by a list of her publications up until 2014. But Jenny also encouraged several generations of younger scholars (the present reviewer included) and forged connections with colleagues working overseas, as this volume, comprised of papers given at a conference held to mark her retirement in 2006, clearly attests. Readers should note that this review deals with the 2019 paperback edition of a book which appeared in hardback in 2015; as a result, several papers present preliminary research which has since been updated elsewhere.
The body of the book is divided into three parts. The seven papers in Section 1, ‘Technology and Production’, examine technical and technological aspects of glassmaking. Three of these look at excavated evidence for primary production sites in Egypt (Marie-Dominique Nenna) and secondary glass-working sites in Hambach, Germany (Anna-Barbara Fellmann-Schulz) and London (John Shepherd). Two further papers deal with chemical analysis of glass. Caroline Jackson and Harriet Foster's useful review article outlines the contribution that provenance studies make to understanding the Roman glass trade. Ian Freestone and Colleen Stapleton present analytical data from their study of coloured glass of the early imperial period, which they contextualise within a tradition of coloured glass working going back to at least Hellenistic times.
The remaining two papers are concerned with glass-working techniques. David Whitehouse shows that the pontil, now a hallmark of glassblowing, did not come into existence at the same time as glassblowing itself was discovered during the first century b.c.e. but probably arose later, in the late first century c.e. Marianne Stern compares glass production and glass-working techniques in the eastern and western Roman Empire, finding that the greater range of blown forms available in the first-century western Roman Empire suggests that ‘blown glass played a larger role in many more areas of daily life’ (p. 81) in the West, though the pendulum swung back the other way in late antiquity, which saw a wider range of forms available in the East.
Section 2, ‘Vessels and their forms’, investigates various types of vessel forms. Souen Fontaine and Danièle Foy provide an updated overview of mould-blown beakers with figurative scenes from Gallia Narbonensis, including old/rediscovered finds and newly excavated items. Birgitta Hoffmann's concise overview of Roman and later glass finds from the Fazzan, based on her earlier work in the region, demonstrates the connectivity of the Garamantes with their Roman neighbours. Yael Israeli presents eight exceptional glass vessels from Caesarea Maritima, including both local products and imports, which shed light on the luxury glass from the site. Daniel Keller's fascinating study of glass assemblages from late Roman domestic contexts in Ephesus and Petra explores late Roman household organisation and the value of glass as a symbol (and facilitator) of late Roman ways of dining. Martine Newby Haspeslagh publishes a new, rare cameo glass vase bearing Dionysiac scenes. Sally Cottam examines an unusual mould-blown beaker from Barzan, France, which did not feature a moulded base, but an applied tubular one, and draws together evidence for bases of this kind from across the Roman West, including in Britain.
In Section 3, ‘Other uses of glass’, Sarah Jennings presents the window glass from Butrint and provides exceptional evidence (a collapsed shelf) which shows that this material could find uses beyond windows. Her contribution also outlines a useful methodology for the quantification of fragmentary window glass assemblages through analysing their weight/area ratios. Heidi Amrein looks at two wooden glazing bars from Vindonissa, Switzerland, which divided panes in windows and give us a clearer idea of the form of some Roman windows. Silvia Fünfschilling examines reused glass fragments from Augusta Raurica, Switzerland, noting possible uses which include lids, inlays and cutting edges as well as gaming pieces or counters.
The last two papers focus explicitly on Britain. Justine Bayley surveys the evidence for Roman enamelling, which is probably a largely Romano-British tradition, though no workshops or other direct evidence for enamelling itself have yet been recovered in the province. Peter Cosyns compares black glass objects from Britannia, Gallia Belgica, and Germania Inferior, showing that assemblages from the southeast of England are more closely aligned with the continent than the rest of the province.
Jenny Price's career demonstrated the value of studying glass at an empire-wide scale, and so while some of the contributions within this book are not focused on Britain, the volume will nevertheless be interesting and useful for many colleagues working in the province.
