Cameo glass represents the ultimate achievement in Roman luxury glass,
and the British Museum has the world's largest and finest collection.
This comprises over seventy pieces, including two of only a dozen
surviving complete cameo glass vessels: the celebrated Portland Vase,
the greatest surviving example of Roman cameo glass, and the Auldjo Jug,
each with its complex and intriguing history. The catalogue, begun by
Veronica Tatton-Brown and William Gudenrath of the Corning Museum of
Glass, has been revisited and enhanced by Paul Roberts of the British
Museum and David Whitehouse and William Gudenrath of the Corning Museum
of Glass. This publication presents the collection in its entirety for
the first time. Each piece is illustrated in colour and line drawing,
with full description and discussion. The book also presents the results
of ground-breaking new research. The authors construct a comprehensive
context, using archaeological, technological, iconographic and
typological evidence to look at the origins of cameo glass and its place
in contemporary Roman art and craftsmanship. They also propose a
relative and absolute chronology for cameo glass, and suggest possible
models for the organisation of the workshop(s) that produced it.
