The Roman craftworkers of late antiquity : a social history of glass production and related industries / Hallie G. Meredith

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meredith, Hallie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Artisans--Rome.

Artisans.

Glassworkers--Rome.

Glassworkers.

Glass manufacture--Social aspects--Rome.

Glass manufacture.

Art and society--Rome.

Art and society.

Rome (Empire).

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations (colour)

color

illustrations

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"Craftworkers throughout history have nearly always worked anonymously, often as valuable assistants in the service of famed artisans but typically without proper credit or recognition. However, an unsigned piece can nevertheless reveal a world. While these craftworkers' names may be lost to history, their contributions can be properly acknowledged and their working realities in large part reconstructed through fresh methodological approaches to architectural, artefactual and epigraphic evidence and other sources. In this book, which will interest scholars in a wide range of fields, Hallie Meredith sheds new light on the crucially important but largely neglected work of fourth- to sixth-century Roman artists in traditional craft materials and processes, such as glass, ivory and marble carving. She uses these case studies to provide insights not just into the past but also into the continuing realities of uncredited creative labourers today"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Uncovering the unknown Roman craftworker

Art and work beyond binaries : Towards a historiography and new history of the unknown maker

Glass in the making

The business of Late Roman making : Creating communities of practice

What’s in a name? Gendered anonymity, slavery and the Late Roman craftworker

Approaching Late Roman mobile craftworkers

Late Roman process art : Maker, making and the intentionally unfinished

Late Roman work/shops and interactions between craftworkers and the consumer

Experiencing objects in the fourth century : The role of anonymous makers in multisensory engagement

From bath to glass : The repurposing of Late Roman furnaces and their significance in inter-industry relations

Anonymous animals and their anonymous makers ‘revealed’ : Early Islamic glass containers as an index of labourers, designers and merchants

Conclusion : Anonymous artists in-process

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed July 27, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Meredith, Hallie Roman craftworkers of late antiquity

ISBN:

9781009773386

1009773380

OCLC:

1571459433

Publisher Number:

CIPO000397852

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license