I have been creating with Roman glass this week and having a lot of fun. The colors are fantastic to work with. This one includes Roman glass, apatite, coral, amethyst, agate, phosphosiderite and one African purple glass bead. It is strung on a jeweler’s elastic and measures approximately 7 inches.
ROMAN GLASS
Along the Silk Road, and in many other parts of the Near East, there were glass making centers that specialized in making vessels, bottles, cups, flasks, and other household goods that were sold along trade routes. These glass making centers were active for hundreds of years. When the glass goods were made defective, or broke, the glass makers threw them into a pit, also known as a midden. Some pits are enormous, at several feet deep and as long as a football field, and full of broken glass. After the Middle Ages, when trade was increasingly carried by ship, trade along the Silk Road decreased, and many of these glass making sites ceased production.
The glass used to make these beads is from a glass making center located along the Silk Road in what was formerly known as the Kingdom of Bactria at Bimyan, in present day Northern Afghanistan. This particular site was active from around the time of Christ to about 1000 AD. The villagers in that area dig up the broken pieces, and then shape them into beads and pendants.
Although everyone in the bead business refers to this type of glass as “Roman Glass,” it is specifically “Roman Era Glass” or “Silk Road Glass.”I was lucky to visit that area of the world in 1997. It is a beautiful part of the world filled with so much history and culture.
One of a Kind Roman Glass Stretch Bracelet
$78.00
Description
I have been creating with Roman glass this week and having a lot of fun. The colors are fantastic to work with. This one includes Roman glass, apatite, coral, amethyst, agate, phosphosiderite and one African purple glass bead. It is strung on a jeweler’s elastic and measures approximately 7 inches.
ROMAN GLASS
Along the Silk Road, and in many other parts of the Near East, there were glass making centers that specialized in making vessels, bottles, cups, flasks, and other household goods that were sold along trade routes. These glass making centers were active for hundreds of years. When the glass goods were made defective, or broke, the glass makers threw them into a pit, also known as a midden. Some pits are enormous, at several feet deep and as long as a football field, and full of broken glass. After the Middle Ages, when trade was increasingly carried by ship, trade along the Silk Road decreased, and many of these glass making sites ceased production.
The glass used to make these beads is from a glass making center located along the Silk Road in what was formerly known as the Kingdom of Bactria at Bimyan, in present day Northern Afghanistan. This particular site was active from around the time of Christ to about 1000 AD. The villagers in that area dig up the broken pieces, and then shape them into beads and pendants.
Although everyone in the bead business refers to this type of glass as “Roman Glass,” it is specifically “Roman Era Glass” or “Silk Road Glass.” I was lucky to visit that area of the world in 1997. It is a beautiful part of the world filled with so much history and culture.
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