The invention of the glassmaker's pipe - around 50 BC in Syria or Palestine - was revolutionary for glassmaking. With the long iron pipe with a mouthpiece made of clay, the viscous glass mass was taken from the melting furnace and blown. A variation was blowing into multi-part, reusable moulds. This bottle is an example of this. The new technique made it possible to produce large quantities. Glass thus competed with the more common ceramic products and was no longer a luxury item.
The centres of glass production shifted from Egypt to the Italian peninsula. In the course of Roman expansion, Gaul and Germania also gained knowledge of glass production a little later. In most cases, it is not possible to pinpoint a chronological order and individual workshops in view of the lively trade exchange in the Roman Empire.
Bottles like these were particularly suitable for transporting liquids, as they could be stacked in crates. (AVS)
Former collection of Baurat Schiller, Berlin
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