International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Anastassios Ch. Antonaras
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki, Greece;
[e-mail]
Glass Production and Use in the Late Byzantine Period 
and Particularly in the 13
th
Century
Glass working in Middle- and Late Byzantine era remains mostly elusive. No Byzantine glass 
workshops operating in this period have been excavated until now. The fact though that glass vessels 
and objects continued to be used in Byzantium is unquestionable, although apparently in quite 
reduced numbers in comparison to the volume of the early Byzantine production. The nature and 
the origin of these objects will be discussed in this paper.
Products from the Arab Caliphates were at least from the 11
th
century sold in Byzantium 
covering the region of the Aegean and the Ionian See. These imports continued during the Late 
Byzantine period mostly concerning unguentaria, mainly lentoid and ring-shaped ones, which are 
excavated in several Byzantine cities.
As regards the influences and imports from the West, It has been proved that quite wide-
spread forms of drinking vessels, like the prunted and ribbed beakers, were actually either imports 
from the West, or local, Byzantine products which were imitating Italian prototypes following the 
taste and the aesthetics of the new Latin elite of the eastern Mediterranean.
What appears to present a true Byzantine ware are the gilded and painted cylindrical bottles 
and beakers which appear in the 13
th
century and they are present in both Byzantine and Slavic 
cities and settlements, mostly in very small quantities, except for Corinth and Paphos where they are 
unearthed in relatively large numbers. Decorative techniques like gilding and fired painting, possibly 
similar to silver staining, were applied and further evolved on these vessels. These techniques had 
also been used in the decoration of the glass bracelets which were present in the entire Byzantine 
realm from the 10
th
century and ceased to exist sometime in the 13
th
century.
Another use of glass present in the 13
th
c. is in enameling which, although was continuously 
present in Byzantium, in the 13
th
c. showed a new stylistic impetus.
Finally, window panes present yet another quite widely used glass product. Mostly plain, 
intensively colored round pieces of crown glass were used, while at least in Constantinople stained 
windows were occasionally used too, probably under the influence of the Latin elit’s wishes.

---

42