Mold Blowing
Definition and Related Terms
- Grape Flask - An ancient Roman mold-blown flask with the body in the form of a bunch of grapes.
- Head flask - A mold-blown flask with the body in the form of a human head. Head flasks were popular in the Roman Empire, and examples were made from the first to fourth centuries A.D. Vessels decorated with two faces placed back to back are sometimes known as “janiform” head flasks (from Janus, the spirit of doorways, who was represented as a double-faced head).
- Lotus-bud beaker - A first-century A.D. Roman mold-blown vessel decorated with rows of oval or almond shaped bulges. Although the bulges are usually described as lotus buds, they are probably derived from representations of knotholes in the club of the mythical hero Hercules.
- Mold - A form used for shaping and/ or decorating molten glass. Nowadays, most molds are made of metal, but stone, wood, plaster, and earthenware molds were used in the past and are still occasionally employed today.
- Mold Blowing - Inflating a parison of hot glass in a mold. The glass is forced against the inner surfaces of the mold and assumes its shape, together with any decoration that it bears.
- Sidonian Glass - A popular generic name for numerous first-century A.D. Roman mold-blown vessels. It is not known how many of these objects were actually made at Sidon, a city on the coast of Lebanon.
- Victory beaker - A first-century A.D. Roman mold-blown drinking vessel inscribed in Greek with words meaning “Take the victory.”
Examples from the Corning Museum of Glass Collection
Phoenicia and Mould-Blowing in the Early Roman Period
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Roman mold-blown glass : the first through sixth centuries
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