Popis
This publication by the archaeologist Hedvika Sedláčková and the art historian Helena Brožková provides a detailed overview of the rich collection of antique glass held by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (UPM). The first part contains a text describing the history of the museum’s collection and introducing its main creators, including Vojtěch Lanna, a prominent collector, patron and entrepreneur. Other chapters are devoted to glass groups according to their production areas, such as the Eastern Mediterranean, the area of modern Italy or the Rhineland: „Modern imitations of ancient glass, the restoration process and the chemical composition of glass. The texts are accompanied by extensive photographic documentation, tables with lists of vessels and tables of glass compositions. The second part of the publication consists of a catalogue of 370 items with photographic and pictorial documentation: almost a third of the collection is made up of ancient glass from the eastern Mediterranean, from archaeological excavations in Beirut, from tombs on Mount Carmel near Haifa or Homs in Syria, or from Antinoë (the Roman city of Antinoupolis) in Egypt. Vessels from Italy come from Etruscan tombs near Capua and, more recently, from Aquileia. The finds from Mainz and Niederbreisig represent glass from sites in Germany. The authors were able to add to the catalogue several vessels from Lanna’s collection, acquired after his death by important European and American museums.