Budapest Régiségei 37. (2003)

Gyürky Katalin, H.: A budapesti I. Fortuna u. 18. számú lakóház régészeti kutatásából származó üvegleletek 13-28

A BUDAPEST I. FORTUNA U. 18. SZÁMÚ LAKÓHÁZ RÉGÉSZETI KUTATÁSÁBÓL SZÁRMAZÓ ÜVEGLELETEK openwork characteristic already of the 15

th century were found - belonging probably not to the infilment of the pit, but to the infilment of the yard itself. Furthermore 3 round window glasses and several broken glass-sheet pieces came to light. 12 deformed glass pieces remind of a glass-maker's waste. But as no workshop has been found yet they must have been melted and deformed by the fire. In the following, a group of glass finds unearthed in section 22-23 showing different features and representing a different period will be discussed. The site is behind the previous rock pit in the backyards of two houses standing in back-to-back position with each other, facing two parallel streets. The first one, as it has already been said, contained finds from the 13

th century, the latter one had only Gothic glass, dating from the 14

th century but there were also some pieces from the period up to the first third of the 15

th century It is a seldom luck when finds from different periods are not mingled with each other. I consider the Gothic glass coming from the 22

th grid to be Venetian. Some scholars, especially from Germany or Switzerland would question this statement. It is true that industry and trade had its different ways in different countries. In Hungary, however archaeology provides us with certain proofs. Up to the end of the 13

th century glass forms are characterised by Bysantine influence and not too high quality. On the turn of the 13

th and 14

th centuries there is a sudden change. It has not been proven yet, but it is supposed that 13

th century glass could have been made within Hungary. They are swept away by the invasion of a completely different glass quality It seems obvious that local manufactures could not have been able to perform such fast changes. It would also have been impossible that they flooded the whole country with their products - as they had occured rarely in the 13

th century Though they abound in unusually great number in Buda, in the dynamically developing city, but there are only some scattered pieces in the rest of the country At the same time 14

th century Gothic glass can also be found not only in the castles, the royal residences and in the capital, but also in market towns, e.g. Muhi. The same types, with almost the same characteristic features of the same workshop appear at different places wittnessing mass production, the quality of them suggesting long-term practice. There were 14 broken pieces of biconical bottles made of translucent high quality material with double mouth form characteristic of the 14

th century There is only one fragment the quality of which is different. The decay affected the whole thickness of the glass. It is supposed to be already a Hungarian pastiche of Venetian glass. (Fig. 5 No. 5 ) local masters are able to keep up with the form of the glass, but the quality of the material itself is behind. Another typical form, the so called Angastara, or Inghistere had been take from eastern, Syrian masters by the Italians and it became a typically Italian bottle form. It can often be seen on Italian paintings of the 'The Last Supper'. A fragment of the meeting of the neck and the shoulder of the bottle with delicate twisted strias and two broken pieces of corniculate mouth rim were found. There is a parallel running blue yarn motif on them. There is a foot that could have belonged to a similar type but not to the same bottle. Fragments of 12 cups with protruding glass drop decoration were found. Unfortunately none of them could have been completed. It is the rim of the foot of these cups that enables us to make a more precise definition of age. Sparse, horrent globular drops are characteristic of the 13

th century An earlier group of Venetian cups has got a denser and more delicate version. We suppose, they are from the 14

th century The ones bottom of which is banded with a flat glass stripe and semi-circle bits are cut of somewhat slant but parallel with each other date back to a later period. They are supposed to come from the beginning of the 15

th century. The one with the inventory number 1992. 11. 14 belongs here. (Eg. 4 No. 9) There is a certain type which cannot be found amoung foreign finds, but which is very popular here. They are the so called ribbed cups that occur in low and high versions too. There are fragments of three cups among our present finds two of which can be completed. (Fig. 6 No. 1) This tape has no bottom lining, but the ribs lean over on the bottom and meet in a central point. This characteristic form among the Hungarian finds suggests that there was a single workshop that could have been trading with these products in Hungary Cups with optical decoration are not missing from the collection of finds either. The fragments of two glasses were found. They have typically very thin wall and with the exception of the stripe near the rim their surface is covered with tiny round bubbles in regular lines. The rim is lined with a thin blue yarn. The cup is low and conical. This piece is definitely from the 14

th century, the high time of Venetian glassery (Fig. 5 No. 2) The same is true for bowls. It is a form that was also produced of metal, wood and clay. In our present collection there is only one piece of it. (Kg. 2 No. 4, Fig. 5 No. 3) Apart from this piece 21