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Sasanian and Post-Sasanian Glass In the Corning Museum of Glass
David Whitehouse
Beyond the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire lay the territory of the Sasanians, a dynasty that originated in southern Iran. Between the early third and mid-seventh centuries, the Sasanians ruled a vast empire that extended from Mesopotamia to parts of Central Asia. This catalog contains 72 objects in the collection that are believed to be Sasanian or “post-Sasanian” (i.e., made in Sasanian style in the centuries immediately following the fall of the Sasanid dynasty). The uncertainty about their origin derives from the fact that relatively few Sasanian glass vessels have been excavated from controlled archeological contexts. No Sasanian glass collection of comparable size and variety has yet been published, and thus the objects at The Corning Museum of Glass provide a starting point for anyone who wishes to study the glass made in the Sasanian Empire. Each catalog entry consists of a detailed description, usually accompanied by a comment on the significance of the object and notes on similar pieces in other collections. Every object is illustrated by a color photograph and a line drawing that shows the profile. Two appendixes provide information on fragments collected from three archeological sites in central Iraq and chemical analysis of Sasanian glass, including objects in the collection at Corning. The volume also includes concordances, an index, and an extensive bibliography. David Whitehouse, executive director of The Corning Museum of Glass, studied archeology at Cambridge University in England. He was director of The British Institute of Afghan Studies in Kabul, Afghanistan, and The British School in Rome. Dr. Whitehouse is a former president of the Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell’Arte in Rome (1980–1981), and the International Association for the History of Glass (1991–1995). He has published widely on archeology in Europe and the Middle East, and on Roman, Islamic, and medieval glass.
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