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Vasa Murrina and the Lexica
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2012
Extract
Recent discussion in this Journal has reviewed the evidence for the material of which vasa murrina were composed, and few will wish to appeal against the triumviral judgement there given in favour of fluorspar. But perhaps something further may be said from the literary and linguistic side. It is now clear that (apart from the difficulty that glass imitations existed and are sometimes referred to in the ancient texts) the identification of vasa murrina as natural in origin or as manufactured articles has been unduly complicated because they do in fact fall within both classes; they were composed of a natural substance—as Pliny's statement suggests—but that substance could only be given artistic shape by a very highly skilled and extremely laborious process, namely, the recurrent surface treatment of the fluorspar by heating and impregnation with natural gum-resin in order to prevent the splitting of the crystals along their natural lines of cleavage, as would otherwise happen.
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- Copyright © G. Clement Whittick 1952. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
References
1 JRS XXXIX, 1949, 31 ff.Google Scholar, by Loewental, A. I., Harden, D. B., and Bromehead, C. E. N.—hereafter cited as LHB. The last-named has discussed further details of the problem in Antiquity, XXVI, 1952, 64 ffGoogle Scholar.
2 e.g. Pliny, NH XXXVI, 198Google Scholar.
3 NH XXXIII, 5: see n. 9 below.
4 The process is described in the Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts, ed. Tomlinson, Chas., London and N.Y., n.d. (1852), vol. I, p. 702Google Scholar, s.v. ‘Fluor Spar’. Dr. Smythe, J. A. (to whom I owe this reference) mentions it as ‘common practice’ in a brief discussion of fluorspar in northern England in Vasculum VIII, 1921, 22Google Scholar.
5 IV, 5, 26.
6 LHB p. 34.
7 III, 10, 22.
8 cf. especially III, 11, 22, of the brick walls of Babylon.
9 NH XXXIII, s: ‘murrina ex eadem tellure et crystallina effodimus, quibus pretium faceret ipsa fragilitas. hoc argumentum opum, haec vera luxuriae gloria existimata est, habere quod posset statim perire totum.’
10 De Benef. VII, 9, 3: ‘crystallina, quorum accendit fragilitas pretium; omnium enim rerum voluptas apud imperitos ipso, quo fugari debet, periculo crescit.’
11 NH XXXVII, 21–2.
12 LHB pp. 32, 37.
13 cf. XXXVII, 145 and 174 for similar attributions.
14 LHB p. 34; Martial XIV, 113 (where note that the wine is warm, which would increase the effect). Cf. Theophr. De Odor, III, 11 Wimmer: ὁ γὰρ οἶνος δεινὸς δέξασθαι τὰς ὀσμάς.
15 e.g. Walde-Hofmann 3 s.v. ‘murra’.
16 LHB pp. 31, 37.
17 NH XXXVII, 21–3.
18 LHB p. 31, n. 1.
19 ‘oriens murrina mittit. inveniuntur ibi pluribus locis nee insignibus, maxime Parthici regni, praecipua tamen in Carmania. umorem sub terra putant calore densari, etc’ For supplies of gum-resin in Carmania see NH XII, 76Google Scholar.
20 ‘contraria huic causa crystallum facit, gelu vehementiore concrete, non aliubi certe reperiturquam ubi maxime hibernae nives rigent, glaciemque esse certum est, unde nomen Graeci dedere.’ Cf. Sen. NQ III, 25, 12Google Scholar: ‘unde autem fiat eiusmodi lapis, apud Graecos ex ipso nomine apparet: κρύσταλλον enim appellant aeque hunc perlucidum lapidem quam illam glaciem, ex qua fieri lapis creditur.’
21 cf. n. 19 above.
22 NH XIV, 92–3 and Plaut. Pseud. 740–1 there quoted.
23 See note 8, p. 66.