Ian Freestone (Cardiff School of History and Archaeology),
Nigel Meeks, Margaret Sax2 and Catherine Higgitt (Department of Conservation, Documentation and Science, The British Museum)
Gold Bulletin: 40/4 (2007)
Abstract
The Lycurgus Cup (fig 1) represents one of the outstanding achievements of the ancient glass industry. This late Roman cut glass vessel is extraordinary in several respects, firstly in the method of fabrication and the exceptional workmanship involved and secondly in terms of the unusual optical effects displayed by the glass. The Lycurgus Cup is one of a class of Roman vessels known as cage cups or diatreta, where the decoration is in openwork which stands proud from the body of the vessel, to which it is linked by shanks or bridges.
Typically these openwork “cages” comprise a lattice of linked circles, but a small number have figurative designs, although none of these is as elaborate or as well preserved as the Lycurgus Cup. Cage cups are generally dated to the fourth century A.D. and have been found across the Roman Empire, but the number recovered is small, and probably only in the region of 50-100 examples are known [1, 2]. They are among the most technically sophisticated glass objects produced before the modern era.
The Lycurgus Cup – A Roman Nanotechnology
Ian Freestone (Cardiff School of History and Archaeology),
Nigel Meeks, Margaret Sax2 and Catherine Higgitt (Department of Conservation, Documentation and Science, The British Museum)
Gold Bulletin: 40/4 (2007)
Abstract
The Lycurgus Cup (fig 1) represents one of the outstanding achievements of the ancient glass industry. This late Roman cut glass vessel is extraordinary in several respects, firstly in the method of fabrication and the exceptional workmanship involved and secondly in terms of the unusual optical effects displayed by the glass. The Lycurgus Cup is one of a class of Roman vessels known as cage cups or diatreta, where the decoration is in openwork which stands proud from the body of the vessel, to which it is linked by shanks or bridges.
Typically these openwork “cages” comprise a lattice of linked circles, but a small number have figurative designs, although none of these is as elaborate or as well preserved as the Lycurgus Cup. Cage cups are generally dated to the fourth century A.D. and have been found across the Roman Empire, but the number recovered is small, and probably only in the region of 50-100 examples are known [1, 2]. They are among the most technically sophisticated glass objects produced before the modern era.
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