Serçe Limani, Vol 2: The Glass of an Eleventh-Century Shipwreck

CHAPTER 41: Bottoms and Bases

# C H A P T E R 41 Bottoms and Bases Berta Lledó and Sheila D. Matthews This chapter compiles bottom and base fragments that are not recognized as belonging to any of the numerous glass categories previously discussed (Fig. 41-1 and Pl. 35). They were randomly mixed in the cullet. Free-blown and mold-decorated bottoms and bases are presented in separate sections. All that are more than 25 preserved have been assigned catalog numbers, BA for free-blown and MD for mold-decorated. Unlike the glass in other chapters, in which catalog numbers represent individual vessels, BA and MD represent individual bottoms and bases that could belong to vessels cataloged elsewhere . Many are fragmentary or have only minimal wall preserved . Thus, although most of them probably belong in other glass categories, their limited preservation precludes certain identification. Fragments less than 25 preserved provide no diameters and little other information and therefore have not been given BA or MD numbers. They do not represent individual bases within this chapter. All fragments are listed by type and color; percentages of colors in parentheses are of the total number of fragments in each type. Unless otherwise indicated, diameters are those of the bottom or base; preserved height is recorded only in the few instances where it is substantial. Free-blown Bottoms and Bases Illustrated by Berta Lledó This group numbers 808 pieces and includes all free-blown bottoms and bases not provably related to any specific type of vessel. Some are decorated with cut patterns or trailing, but they are few. The colors of these 808 bottoms and bases are 44 yellowgreen , 20 green, 18 amber, 8 purple, 5 blue-green, 2 blue, 2 emerald green, and 1 olive green. Opaque white, clear, and aqua combined account for less than 1. The bottoms are typed according to shape, with random examples shown in Figs. 41-2 through 41-6. TYPE I. SIMPLE BOTTOMS These 237 bottoms are not delimited from their bodies by boundaries, their profiles being simply continuations of the body lines. The bottom may vary in thickness regardless of whether it is flat, the most common shape, or with a kick, for it may either thicken as it rises slightly into the vessel’s interior or continue at an even thickness. Only 13 of the bottoms of this type have any decoration: 30 pieces are cut, and one is trailed. The difference between flat and kicked does not affect the use or stability of any piece; Fig. 41-2. Bottoms and bases. Scale 1:2 ~ I. " " II II " \\ II '\ \',I 1\ BA 1 BA87 BA 103 , II II II II II 1\I \ , 'BA16 BA 157 BA 172 BA235 ,~ BA 194 ~. BA203 BA237 BA238 BA241 BA207 BA208 BA263 bottoms and bases 423 straight lines, curls, or dots. The following are sorted according to their preserved cut decoration. BA 207. Fig. 41-2. Inv. No. GW 1829. Diam. 0.08. Yellow-green with green swirls. Cut decoration consists of a horizontal line 0.012 from bottom above which is unidentifiable curled decoration. BA 208. Fig. 41-2. Inv. No. GW 1828. Diam. 0.09. Yellow-green. Single horizontal line 0.011 above bottom; ends of line do not properly meet but lie side by side. BA 209–232 are 24 pieces similar in shape and decoration to BA 208. BA 209 has a diameter of 3 cm; the others range from 0.5 to 1 cm. BA 211 and 213 have two distinct horizontal lines; the others do not have enough wall preserved to show if the decoration contained more than a single line. BA 228 presents a line whose ends do not join, as seen in BA 208. Colors are 17 yellow-green, three green, two olive green, one amber, and one blue. There are 12 fragments in this category. Eight have horizontal lines: five yellow-green, two amber, and one light purple. There are four yellow-green fragments with horizontal lines and dots. BA 233 (amber; diam. 5 cm) has a cut square around its pontil mark. BA 234 (light yellow-green; diam. 6.2 cm) has a cut square on its bottom and a horizontal line along the bottom ’s edge. Kicked BA 235. Fig. 41-2. Inv. No. GW 1831. Diam. 0.09. Amber. Double horizontal line at bottom, surmounted by a band of connecting rectangles, below a single horizontal line. There are...