Roman Glass

Oscar Humphries X Charles Ede

The first piece of Roman glass I bought was from Charles Ede, perhaps ten years ago. I still have it, and today it sits at home with another Roman glass dish and a conch shell. The shell was picked up on a beach somewhere sunny, where these shells were in abundance. Glass is made of sand, and blown glass has an organic feeling, so I like them placed together – the pink shell and the blue glass. Both the Roman glass and the shell trigger memories, as every object should. Proust said that ‘Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.’ Perhaps the holiday the shell memorializes was not quite as perfect as I imagine it to be, and of course, our collective idea of Rome is more about imagination than history. Rome is an idea, as much as it is a place, or a period in time. That glass made in the Greco-Roman period survives is a kind of miracle. And each bowl or cup or chalice is a small wonder. Marble withstands – largely – the winds of time, and it’s marble, largely, that has formed our vision of ancient Greece and Rome. The ancients used glass as we do, making from it functional or decorative objects, and objects that are both. With Martin Clist and Charis Tyndall from Charles Ede I have selected a group of glass objects that each tell a story about why they were made, how they were made, and in some cases, what happened to them after. With this collaboration I wish to share things I love, to inform, to learn more myself, and bring to a new audience these beautiful, under-appreciated, and undervalued works of art. Also right now I want to connect with history – something solid, as so much of today feels transient and as we face the unknown, better to connect with the past; real, enduring, and material in these objects. 

We can trace glass back to 2500 B.C. in Mesopotamia. Later it spread throughout the ancient world. Production was limited until the introduction of two technical advances—the use of the blowpipe and closed multipart moulds —in the late first century B.C. and the early first century A.D., respectively. These advances revolutionized the glass industry under the Roman Empire, making glass objects accessible to nearly everyone and allowing producers to create a wide range of shapes, sizes, and usages. Glassblowing – a technique still used today – was a Roman invention. What we now call ‘art glass’ has its origins – like so much architecture and design – in the distant past. Perhaps that’s why the objects included here feel so modern. They can remind us of 30’s Murano glass – that is because the main inspiration behind Modern Italian glass was Roman glass, coupled with a desire to break away from the opulence of 19th century glass design. Of course, the great designers of this period were original and inventive – but the origin of that invention was ancient. Looking at the work of Carlo Scarpa and others I think for them to start again they had to look at the start, to Roman and Greek and earlier glass. 

The selection of works we made range in type, form, price and importance. Some of the cups you can use. Some of the works are blown, others cast in moulds. Most are simple, others more ornate. The iridescence in some of them is a natural organic process - not by design. When glass is buried – for many hundreds of years – it can develop the glittering patina seen in some of these pieces. Time and chemistry add to the form created by the artisan. In this glass we see the passage of time. Through them we can connect with history, real, and a Proustian one personal to us. Because they are fragile they remind us glass – like time – is precious. In a conch shell we ‘hear’ the sea. In glass we ‘see’ the past. 

Established in 1971, Charles Ede is recognized as one of the world’s leading dealerships for works of ancient art from Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire. Based in London, the gallery exhibits at major international art fairs, has published more than 300 catalogues and sold more than 30,000 objects. Their clients include some of the world’s most important collectors as well as major museums and institutions across the UK, USA, Europe and Australia. It is a member of various professional associations including ADA (Antiquity Dealers’ Association), BADA (British Art Dealers’ Association),  IADAA (International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art), and upholds their high ethical standards.