Modern-period glass vessels excavated in Warsaw - research perspectives and limitations

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the range of glass vessels from the 16th–18th c. excavated in Warsaw, to survey the current state of research and to discuss the possibilities and limitations of describing them, especially as regards establishing their origin and functions. The article also identifies issues requiring further research and points to unsolved questions. The discussion is based on finds described in available publications. Most of them are remnants of everyday items, which are rarely mentioned in written sources and insufficiently researched. Glass is one of the major categories of modern-period artefacts revealed by archaeological works; glass vessels they are usually excavated in pieces, due to the fragility of the material. In Poland, broken glass, along with damaged ironware, was bought for reuse until the end of the 18th c. Glass became commonly used in Poland relatively late; glass tableware, containers and windowpanes started to appear quite frequently only in the 16th c., and became widely accessible only in the 17th c. No record has been found so far to confirm the existence of any glassworks near Warsaw and in Mazovia before the beginning of the 18th c. However, there may have been some smallscale works, called ‘forest glassworks’. Their products, supplied to the Warsaw market, were probably kitchen utensils or modest tableware, e.g. the so-called ‘bell cups’. Elegant glass tableware in the 16th–18th c. was imported. Warsaw was probably supplied with glass of various provenance, coming by various routes from different directions. In the 16th–17th c. the major glass trade centres were Cracow and Gdańsk. The first glass manufactories which produced vessels were established in the vicinity of Warsaw in the first half of the 18th c. Those were: the royal glassworks in Bielany near Warsaw, opened in 1713 and closed before 1725, and the glassworks near Otwock, which was opened after 1729 and worked until c. 1786. The products of the royal glassworks were probably of high quality but none have been identified. The other glassworks manufactured decorated white and colourful vessels. The third Warsaw glassworks, most likely applying quite an advanced technology, was established in 1729. Other glassworks in the vicinity of Warsaw started production only in the second half of the 18th c. In that century the capital was probably supplied with glass by other renowned manufactories, e.g. by the “Crystal Glassworks”, which worked from 1717 to the end of the 18th c. near Lubaczów. More glassworks were established in the region only in the first half of the 19th c., the leading one being the “Czechy” manufactory in Trąbki near Garwolin. Data on modern-period glass vessels excavated in Warsaw can be found in less than twenty publications. Most of them are artefacts from the 18th c., with few 16th- and 17th-century items. The total number is over 16 000 (cf. table 1). They constitute just a fraction of glass finds. The largest set comes from excavations in the Royal Pharmacy. The analysed vessels can be divided into two groups according to function: ones for storing and transporting drinks and ones for serving and consumption. The existing publications indicate that the majority of finds belong to the first group, which includes bottles, flasks and demijohns. Items from the other group, which can be labelled tableware, are less numerous but more varied, with glasses, goblets and cups (including ‘bell cups’), jugs, mugs and decanters of varied sizes, forms and shapes. Few are decorated; the excavated items sometimes draw from motifs characteristic of ornate artistic glass but in most cases their forms and decorations are quite simplified.
This is a multifaceted topic, and answers to the many research questions it poses can only be found by further interdisciplinary studies.