As in the modern day, glassware in antiquity was considered an art form, with the best pieces were valued higher than wares made from precious metals. The beaker did not appear before the Roman period, and it only began to be manufactured for everyday use with the invention of glassblowing. Roman beakers were usually plain, but some were decorated. In addition to functioning as drinking vessels, they also served as containers for various kinds of foods and ointments, as well as often serving as lamps. Like other utilitarian vessels, the beakers exhibited the same shapes over a long period of time, and they were probably manufactured in a number of production centres, not merely one.
Conical vessels of this type were popular in late Roman and early Byzantine times. Several of them would have hung together in a polycandalon, lighting the more important areas of the church or sacred space, as they were more expensive to make and run than their terracotta counterparts. They have been excavated with traces of olive oil remaining, indicating their function as a lamp. They would have been filled with water, almost to the top, whilst the oil and wick would have floated on top.
To discover more on ancient Roman glass, please visit our blog: How It Was Made: Roman Glass
For a similar item, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, item 17.194.149
