Several decades after the appearance of free-blown
glass, mold-blown vessels first appear in appreciable
numbers in the second quarter of the first century CE,
presumably as a result of experimentation with the
older technique of glass molding together with the
new technique of free-blowing. Underlying this
experimentation was the glassmakers' attempt to copy
contemporary mold-cast pottery. Similar to free-
blowing, this innovation has been traced to the
provinces of either Judaea and/or Syria. One of the
most famous glassmakers using this technique is
Ennion and his Sidonian school. Mold-blown
glassware seems to have further developed along
similar lines in both the eastern and western
workshops. Certain types, such as the flasks for
perfume in the shape of dates were initially made in
the east but came quickly to be made also in the west.
To create a mold-blown vessel, the glass-blower
inflates a hot gather of glass on the end of a blow pipe
within the confines of a multi-part mold, a container,
the inside of which had carved into it the patterns that
would eventually appear as a raised decoration on the
finished vessel. The mold imparts both shape and
decorative patterns to the glass. After removing from
the mold, the vessel can be finished in much the same
way as a free-blown vessel.
