A British expert successfully recreated the color-changing Roman glass effect used to make the 1,600-year-old Lycurgus Cup, the University of Sheffield announced last week.
The Lycurgus Cup, which dates back 1,600 years (4th century CE), is currently housed in the British Museum. Of 40 surviving glass cage cups from the period, it is one of the most complete.
It is made up of “dichroic” glass, which shifts in color depending on where the light source is positioned. In reflected light, the glass is a jade green. When exposed to transmitted light, the color of the glass changes to become ruby red.
In 2022, an international panel of artists and conservators recognized the Lycurgus Cup as one of the seven glass wonders of the world.
Using a recipe derived from a fragment of the original artifact, the team was able to recreate the color-changing material after being challenged to recreate the glass for the University of Sheffield’s 2025 LightFest by Molecular Photonic Breadboards Project Manager Christina Metcalfe.
Recreating a Roman glass recipe
“I knew that making a glass of this type was likely to be a complex task, as it is not just a case of adding nanoparticles to glass,” said Dr. Lisa Hollands, a technician from the university’s school of chemical, materials and biological engineering. “I’ve studied and worked with glass for over 25 years, so I used the knowledge and experience I’ve gained, coupled with a modern scientific understanding of what I was trying to achieve.”
Hollands explained that she worked alongside leading Roman glass expert, Professor Caroline Jackson, to research what the Romans knew of glass at the time and then develop a base glass using “modern materials to mimic what the Romans might have used.”
“Then came the more difficult part of trying to get small amounts of gold and silver into the glass in the right form,” she said. “Although if the Romans could have seen me experimenting, they’d probably laugh and ask: ‘Why does she not know how to make this?’”
But, after experimenting with furnace types, materials, and oxygen levels, Hollands was able to build a receipt for glass that mimicked the appearance of the Lycurgus Cup’s.
The initial piece was exhibited at LightFest, held in Sheffield by the Molecular Photonic Breadboards project in partnership with the Universities of Sheffield and Bristol and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Creating a sculpture out of the new glass
Once the glass was created, however, “The next step was to commission a piece worthy of paying homage to its illustrious predecessor,” said Metcalfe.
Elliot Walker, a UK glass artist and winner of season two of Netflix’s Blown Away series, was commissioned to create a contemporary sculpture using Hollands’ glass recipe.
“It is a very rare thing to have the opportunity to work with glass developed from ancient mixtures and recipes, and it is always a very exciting one,” Elliot said. “You can really get an idea of how the glass makers of the past would have adapted to this sort of glass; it’s like shaking their hands.”
He explained that in the sculpture, he wanted to maintain references to the Lycurgus Cup and the history behind the material.
“I wanted to keep the sculpture quite classical in form and to carry through the original story of Lycurgus shown on the cup, but we needed a blown element within this to really show the dichroic glass,” Elliot added. “The piece is a blend of the Lycurgus story and the Farnese Atlas sculpture, with the globe replaced by a cup.”
Elliot’s sculpture is slated to be on display to the public between November 6 – 15 at the Millennium Gallery, before being moved to the Turner Museum of Glass at the University of Sheffield.
“We set out to create something tangible to help the public understand what is possible when these tiny nanoparticles are embedded in something,” Metcalfe added.
“What Lisa and Elliot have managed to achieve has surpassed all our expectations. The incredible historic narrative really captures people’s imaginations, and I like to think we’ve created something that people will marvel at for years to come.”
