$ 120.00 USD Size Guide
The beautiful, subtly curved black glass beads with stripes of yellow in this necklace are the precious fragments of an Ancient Roman glass bracelet. Bracelets of this type were worn by men, women and children throughout the Roman Empire. Sadly, few survive intact. However, these fragments are carefully recovered and are now able to again serve as a beautiful piece of jewelry!
Special Note: This is a one-of-a-kind Roman Glass Necklace is made with a genuine Roman Glass bracelet shards dating to approximately 400 AD. You will receive the exact necklace pictured. It comes with a full-color Certificate of Authenticity detailing the creation, use, loss and recovery of your Roman Glass!
These small, decorative, and beautifully-hued glass shards are tiny ambassadors of one of the most legendary empires the world has ever seen. Today, they are carefully conserved and converted to beads that tell the story of times long past - the story of an empire that still shapes the world today.
The busy metropolis of 100 AD was teaming with sound, color and activity. Markets, temples and homes were filled with glass vessels of all kinds - cooking oils, perfumes and jewelry were made from the hand-blown vessels made throughout the empire.
From jewelry, to large canisters, to tiny tear vases, glass was an every-day essential then as it is now. Lost to time, some of these vessels and jewelry are recovered... as broken shards that give us clues to the daily life of the average Roman. Lovingly and delicately ground by craftsmen, a few of these shards are made into Roman Glass Beads - it is these beads you see here.
April's Notes: Working with ancient Roman Glass is a reminder of the hand-made nature of each glass piece that was created by a Roman glass blower. Subtle differences in color, inclusions of grains of iron or dirt, and the texture of the glass from smooth to porous give each shard its own unique personality. Combine with that the burst of color from the patina - the mineralized surface deposits on the glass from century after century underground, and you have a truly one-of-a-kind treasure.
Delicate and beautiful, useful and decorative, Roman glass objects have been recovered across the Roman Empire. Used in the home, on the battlefield, in industry, and as funerary objects, most glass was used to produce vessels of every type and description, although mosaic tiles and window glass were also produced. The glass you see here is specialty glass that was once a decorative bangle bracelet.
The Romans adopted Greek techniques for producing glass, at first producing brightly colored cast glass vessels. The majority of the manufacturing techniques of Greek origin were time-consuming, and produced a heavy, thick-walled vessel that required much finishing. Plus, importing raw materials for the production of raw glass limited its use – and made it an expensive and high-status material.
This made glass production during the Republican period (509 BC - 27 BC) a small, exclusive craft. Still, with the massive growth and influence of the Roman empire by the end of the Republican period, Roman glasswares were already making their way from Western Asia to the Kushan Empire in Afghanistan and India and as far as the Han Empire of China; the first Roman glass found in China came from an early 1st century BC tomb at Guangzhou.
But with the 1st century AD, rapid technical growth led to the rise of glass blowing and the widespread creation of colorless or ‘aqua’ glasses – the aqua color coming from the natural properties of the sea sand used to create the glass.
Glass vessels were produced and available throughout the Roman world, with specialized luxury glasses being prized, and very expensive, possessions. Strangely, at the dawn of the 1st century, despite the growing place glass held in the everyday life of the average Roman, there was no Latin word for it.
