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- Title
Colors of Roman Glass: An Investigation of the Yellow Sectilia in the Gorga Collection.
- Authors
Verità, Marco; Maggetti, Marino; Saguì, Lucia; Santopadre, Paola
- Abstract
Glass sectilia that were part of the decoration of the imperial villa of Lucius Verus (r . A.D. 161-169) in Rome and are now in the Gorga Collection are an important source of information for understanding Roman glassmaking techniques. Small fragments of 10 sectilia, selected from more than 1,000 monochrome yellow pieces in the collection, were analyzed to determine their chemical composition and to identify the yellow pigments (chemical composition and crystallographic nature). Roman artisans obtained different yellow hues with three different pigments (lead antimonate, lead stannate, and lead-tin antimonate), used either alone or in combination. The yellow pigments were prepared by roasting mixtures of lead, tin, and antimony compounds. Iron was sometimes added during the production of the pigments to increase the number of available hues. The hypothesis of an alternative use of tin-based and antimony-based yellow pigments in ancient Roman glass must be reconsidered. Consequently, tin-based and antimony-based yellow pigments cannot be construed as a fingerprint for a specific period or a specific location of the manufacture of yellow glass.
- Subjects
CLASSICAL glassware; GLASS craft; GLASS chemistry; COLORED glass; HISTORY of the glass industry; GLASSWARE; GLASS; HISTORY
- Publication
Journal of Glass Studies, 2013, Vol 55, p39
- ISSN
0075-4250
- Publication type
Article