Ancient and Islamic Glass and Glassmaking

Glass Cutting

Definition and Related Terms

• Cage cup - An ancient Roman vessel decorated by undercutting so that the surface decoration stands free of the body of the glass, supported by struts. The vessel appears, therefore, to be enclosed in an openwork cage. Cage cups are sometimes known as diatreta or vasa diatreta.
• Cameo Glass - Glass of one color covered, usually by casing, with one or more layers of contrasting color(s). The outer layers are acid-etched, carved, cut, or engraved to produce a design that stands out from the background. The first cameo glasses were made by the ancient Romans.
• Carving - The removal of glass from the surface of an object by means of hand-held tools or sandblasting.
• Cutting - The technique whereby glass is removed from the surface of an object by grinding it with rotating wheels made of stone, wood, and cork. The first stage of the process employs a stone wheel under a continuous stream of water. Later, wheels of fine-grained stone and wood, fed with various abrasives, are used to grind and polish the surface.
• Diatretum - vas diatretum (Latin, “openwork vessel”) A term frequently used to refer to a cage cup. The plural form is vasa diatreta.
• Molar flask - A small flask standing on four very short feet resembling the roots of a tooth. The molar flask is a characteristic type of ninth- to 14th-century Islamic perfume bottle. Many examples have simple wheel-cut decoration.
• Undercutting - The technique of decorating glass in high relief by cutting or carving away part of the glass between the body of an object and its decoration (e.g., on a cage cup).

Examples from the Corning Museum of Glass Collection

Cameo Glass Process

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