Glass became very popular across the Roman Empire, especially after the discovery of glassblowing in which production rates rapidly increased to match the level of demand. Glassblowing not only allowed for a wider range of styles and shapes to be produced, but the translucency of the glass became more achievable. This method revolutionised glass production, thus changing the everyday trends, people became more favourable of glass cups rather than pottery ones. Two different trade businesses were involved with the manufacturing of glass, glassmakers and glassworkers. The glassmakers would melt down glass and when cooled, it would be broken into chunks and shipped to glassworkers. Once receiving the glass, the glassworkers would mould it into the desired vessel/object. The function of these objects varied in everyday life, smaller bottles such as unguentaria would hold essential oils and perfumes while larger vessel, like this dish, would be used as tableware vessels. Glass vessels were also used for storage, merchants would pack different food products and goods in them and ship them overseas.
To find out more about Roman glass please see our relevant blog post: Ancient Roman Glass and Collecting Roman Glass.
