Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop
On view May 13, 2023 through January 7, 2024
Corning Museum of Glass
Corning, New York
www.cmog.org
“Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop” is an immersive and fun exploration of the world of ancient glass makers. In the 1960s, archaeologists from the Corning Museum of Glass and University of Missouri, Columbia, excavated a glass workshop in Jalame, Israel which was active between 350–400 CE. Among the discoveries from Jalame, are chunks of raw glass, parts of the glass making furnace, debris from glass blowing, and fragments of utilitarian glass vessels.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to explore the basic concepts of archaeology and how archaeologists, scientists, and contemporary glass artists work together to learn about ancient glass making. A highlight of the exhibition will be a series of videos shot at a custom-built wood-fired, ancient-style glass blowing furnace, especially created by the Museum for this exhibition. During summer 2023, the Museum will offer guests a number of opportunities to see the wood-fired furnace in action.
[Image: Dish, 375-425. Roman Empire; possibly Syria; possibly Palestine. Blown and tooled. H: 5.3cm; D: 27.5 cm. Pitcher, 300-399. Roman Empire; Eastern Mediterranean. Blown, tooled, and applied decoration. H:24 cm; D(max): 10.9 cm. (70.1.39) Bowl, 300-399. Roman Empire; possibly Syria; possibly Palestine. Blown glass. H: 7.4 cm; D(rim): 10 cm. (72.1.7, Gift of the Israel Department of Antiquities) Beaker, Roman Empire; Eastern Mediterranean. Blown glass and applies decoration. H: 8.3 cm; D(max): 5 cm. (79.1.176, Gift of The Ruth Bryan Strauss Memorial Foundation) The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.]
