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Lycurgus Cup

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Lycurgus Cup
The Lycurgus Cup – A Roman Nanotechnology
Ian Freestone1, Nigel Meeks2, Margaret Sax2 and Catherine Higgitt2
Cardiff School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3EU, Wales UK 2 Department of Conservation, Documentation and Science, The British Museum, London WC1B 3DG, UK
1

Introduction
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 openwork decoration of the Lycurgus Cup comprises a mythological frieze depicting the legend of King Lycurgus from the sixth book of Homer’s Iliad. The figures, carved in deep relief, show the triumph of Dionysus over Lycurgus. However it is not only the cut-work design of the Cup that shows the high levels of skill involved in its production. The glass of the cup is dichroic; in direct light it resembles jade with an opaque greenish-yellow tone, but when light shines through the glass (transmitted light) it turns to a translucent ruby colour (Fig 1a and b). The cup was acquired by the British Museum from Lord Rothschild in 1958



References: 1 Harden D.B. and Toynbee J.M.C. (1959), ‘The Rothschild Lycurgus Cup’, Archaeologia, Vol catalogue of extant or lost but well authenticated cage cups and fragments known at that time) 2 3 4 5 6 7 Harden D.B., Hellenkemper H., Painter K. and Whitehouse D. (1987) Glass of the Caesars, Olivetti, Milan, pp Harden D.B., Hellenkemper H., Painter K. and Whitehouse D. (1987) Glass of the Caesars, Olivetti, Milan, pp Harden D.B. and Toynbee J.M.C. (1959), ‘The Rothschild Lycurgus Cup’, Archaeologia, Vol Harden D.B. and Toynbee J.M.C. (1959), ‘The Rothschild Lycurgus Cup’, Archaeologia, Vol Harden D.B., Hellenkemper H., Painter K. and Whitehouse D. (1987) Glass of the Caesars, Olivetti, Milan, pp Harden D.B. and Toynbee J.M.C. (1959), ‘The Rothschild Lycurgus Cup’, Gold Bulletin 2007 • 40/4 8 9 10 11 12 13 British Museum Research Laboratory File 1144, letter dated 5.2.59 to Dr Mackey, Department of Physics, Birkbeck College, London Harden D.B. and Toynbee J.M.C. (1959), ‘The Rothschild Lycurgus Cup’, 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Harden D.B., Hellenkemper H., Painter K. and Whitehouse D. (1987) Glass Glastech Lierke R. (1995) ‘Vasa Diatreta. Teil II: Die Herstellung der romischen Glasnetzbecher’, Antike Welt 26 (4) pp. 251-269 Lierke R. (1999) Antike Glastopferei: Ein vergessenes Kapitel der of the Caesars, Olivetti, Milan, pp Harden D.B. and Toynbee J.M.C. (1959), ‘The Rothschild Lycurgus Cup’, Archaeologia, Vol Stern, E.M. (1999) ‘Roman glassblowing in a cultural context’, American Journal of Archaeology 103, pp Price J. (2005) ‘Glassworking and glassworkers in cities and towns’, in A. MacMahon and J. Price (eds) Roman Working Lives and Urban Living: pp. 167-191. Oxford: Oxbow Brill R.H. (1968) ‘The scientific investigation of ancient glasses’, Proc 8th Internat Chirnside R.C. (1965) ‘The Rothschild Lycurgus Cup: An analytical investigation’, Proc 7th Internat. Cong. Glass, comptes rendus 2. Paper 222, pp. 1-6 20 21 Brill R.H. (1965) ‘The chemistry of the Lycurgus Cup’, Proc 7th Internat. 142-154 47 Hunt L.B. (1976) ‘The true story of Purple of Cassius’, Gold Bull. 9, pp. 134139 Archaeologia, Vol Fremersdorf F. (1930), ‘Die Herstellung der Diatreta’, Schumacher Festschrift, Mainz, pp

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