Ancient Roman Glass
Description/Abstract/Artist Statement
The Hermitage Museum and Gardens here in Norfolk hosts a surprisingly strong collection of ancient Roman glass vessels collected by Florence Sloane in the early 20th century. These glass objects have not only never been studied before, but they have also never been on display. Our poster is the presentation of some early efforts to study the glass and to make inferences about the people who made it and the woman who collected it. We drew every vase, we photographed with meter scales, and we made photogrammetric models. We also researched comparanda from other sites and museums to help us understand the social and historical context of such glass objects. As artists, we focused primarily on process and practice, reverse engineering how the ancient glass blowers made these object. Finally, we used archival evidence to explore why and how Sloane initially collected the objects and what that reveals about her as a person, because she seems to have intended them to serve a didactic function.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Jared Benton
College Affiliation
College of Arts & Letters
Presentation Type
Poster
Disciplines
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity | Glass Arts
Session Title
Poster Session
Location
Learning Commons @ Perry Library
Start Date
3-19-2022 9:00 AM
End Date
3-19-2022 11:00 AM
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Ancient Roman Glass
Learning Commons @ Perry Library
The Hermitage Museum and Gardens here in Norfolk hosts a surprisingly strong collection of ancient Roman glass vessels collected by Florence Sloane in the early 20th century. These glass objects have not only never been studied before, but they have also never been on display. Our poster is the presentation of some early efforts to study the glass and to make inferences about the people who made it and the woman who collected it. We drew every vase, we photographed with meter scales, and we made photogrammetric models. We also researched comparanda from other sites and museums to help us understand the social and historical context of such glass objects. As artists, we focused primarily on process and practice, reverse engineering how the ancient glass blowers made these object. Finally, we used archival evidence to explore why and how Sloane initially collected the objects and what that reveals about her as a person, because she seems to have intended them to serve a didactic function.