Fig. 290.
Fig. 291.
Other examples of the common forms of Samian-ware vessels are given on figs. [288] to [291], and a clay mould for forming heads on pottery, discovered by myself at Headington, is shown on [fig. 287].
Glass was very successfully and beautifully worked by the Romans, not only abroad, but in Britain, and vessels of this material are frequently found with sepulchral deposits. They are of great variety, and evidently made for many different uses. Those found in the graves are usually those made for holding the burnt bones of the dead; small vessels, commonly called lachrymatories, although their use was most probably that of holding the unguents and aromatics usually buried with the dead; small bowls, cups, or drinking vessels; and beads.
Fig. 292.
Of the sepulchral vessels of glass the one here engraved ([fig. 292]), from Bartlow Hills, will show the general form. They are of somewhat thick green glass, with neck and handle, and are literally bottles. The one from Bartlow Hills is of square form, and is six inches in height and four inches square on the bottom. Others are round in form. They contained the calcined bones of the dead. Of the forms of the small vessels known as lachrymatories, to which I have alluded, the examples in pottery on figs. [259] to [263] will convey a tolerably correct idea. They are usually from three to five inches in height. One found at Mount Bures, Colchester, is a remarkable example, being made of beautifully variegated glass. Cups or bowls, or, as they may not inaptly be called, basins, are of the common basin form, or jar shaped. They are usually of green glass, and of elegant workmanship. Beads are, perhaps, the most frequently found of any remains of Roman glass; this being of course owing to their more solid and, consequently, less perishable nature. They are of various kinds and sizes, and are more or less ornamented. The accompanying examples (figs. [294], [295], [296], and [297]), will be sufficient to direct attention to these interesting relics. A number of beads, said to have been found with undoubted Roman remains, are shown on [fig. 298].
Fig. 293.