Wafer glass flasks

During archaeological excavations in the territory of the Lower Castle of Vilnius, at the Grand Dukes’ Palace, a valuable collection of glass artifacts from various periods was gathered. Glass is a hard mineral material but brittle and sensitive to mechanical impact, so nearly all found glass artifacts are in shard form. A particularly rich assemblage of glass shards was discovered in 2004 during excavations in the cellars of the Palace’s western wing, investigating the contents of latrines dated to the 16th–17th centuries. Among these were fragments of vessels linked to the royal Vasa court and its luxury—very ornate and expensive imported vessel shards exhibiting a variety of decorative techniques: gilding, enameling, diamond engraving, and more.

 

Among them stood out shards of grayish, cloudy glass decorated with a distinctive corrugated relief called a waffle pattern. From the 36 fragments found, two low, four-edged, square cross-section flasks with rounded corners were reconstructed, while only parts of a third vessel remained. One flask is preserved at full height with a well-preserved threaded pewter lid featuring a ring. The neck of the second flask is missing. The capacity of these small containers is approximately 0.31 liters. Such small bottles are generally attributed to so-called apothecary containers, believed to have been used for storing aromatic oils or spirits.

 

The waffle glass relief is produced by a hot process where a hot glass strip is spirally wound from below upwards onto the heated glass blank. The blank is then blown into a metal or wooden mold with vertical ribs on its inner walls, forming neat rows of squares creating the waffle texture effect.

 

The exact origin of these finds is uncertain. Vessels decorated with waffle reliefs are found in various Western European countries. Such items were produced from the second half of the 16th century in Sweden, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It is thought these products were imported from these countries, as this region experienced an economic boom at the beginning of the 17th century—the "Golden Age"—which greatly influenced glass production. Local glassmakers, having mastered Venetian techniques, adapted them to new demands, leading to mass production of bottles intended for storing, transporting, or serving spirits.

 

Visitors can see these flasks in the permanent exhibition at the Museum (Route I: “History, Archaeology, Architecture”).