The castle of Cheylard (municipality of Aujac, Gard) "sentinel of the Cevennes"
Philippe Durand, wanted to pay homage to Gilbert Léautier, by leading this monograph of the castle of Cheylard, marvelous castle nicknamed the "sentinel of the Cévennes".
During work carried out by the owners, fortuitous discoveries of glass objects were made.
An archaeological study of the glass
of the site was necessary.
During work carried out by the owners of the Château d'Aujac, fortuitous discoveries of glass objects were made. No stratigraphy could be carried out since it is not a question of archaeological excavations. Despite everything, this material holds our attention by its variety and quality. In addition, it provides us with information on the location of forms for certain unknowns on French territory[1]. We have excluded from this study the fragments from the 19th and 20th centuries (including a conscript's cane) and retained those from the 14th/15th centuries to the 18th century. A total of 195 fragments were unearthed, the majority of which belong to tableware (drinking glasses, bottles, vials, goblets (fig.1), the rest being beads, buttons or flat glass (fig.2) Only one object is complete.
[1] Hebrard 2014, La typologie retenue est celle de Catherine Hébrard-Salivas présentée dans sa thèse soutenue en 2014. Dans cette typologie les objets sont classés en quatre groupes : groupe A, les verres à boire ; le groupe B, les coupes et les pots, le groupe C, les formes fermées et le groupe D classe les décors. Chaque groupe est ensuite subdivisé en sous-groupe numéroté de 1 à 6 selon leur mode de fabrication. Puis, les lettres de a à d permettent d’affiner cette classification. Enfin, cet ensemble est classé par siècle du XIVe siècle au XVIIe siècle, le siècle correspondant au siècle d’apparition de la forme. Par exemple, la forme XIV.A.2.b correspond à un objet qui est le plus répandu au XIVe siècle, c’est un verre à boire (A) qui est réalisé avec une tige creuse (2) et possède des côtes (b). L’objectif de cette typologie est son adaptabilité avec la découverte de nouvelles formes et sa possibilité de l’étendre aux siècles antérieurs au XIVe siècle ou postérieur au XVIIe siècle.
Many drinking glasses have been unearthed as well as beads (including two from the 14th century), buttons and flat glass.
For drinking glasses many shapes have been discovered
Forme XVI.A1.c : hollow stem glass with bulge
This type of glass is composed of a single parison and the hollow stem has a more or less wide bulge, some being flattened rings. The feet of these objects, which have not been conserved here, are hemmed by repression of the parison. Twelve objects of this type come from the site. They are substantially identical in shape, their bulge which has a diameter of between 1.4 cm to 2.1 cm. Their color varies from colorless to yellowish to greyish. This is a very common type of glass in the 16th century. They are found on almost all sites dating from this period.
Forme XVI.A1.b : hemmed stem glass and hollow stem
As for the previous shape, the glass is made with a single parison. For this reason the foot is hemmed and there is a bulge inside the foot. We observe the trace of recovery of the pontil inside the foot in the form of a protuberance which almost obstructs the inside of the stem on certain lenses. It is a form of foot that has been found since the 14th century with objects of potassium composition. Here, this object can be dated to the 16th century or even the beginning of the 17th century because it seems to be of sodic composition.
Forme XVIII.A2.a : straight-stemmed glass and hollow stem
Eight objects are attached to this type of glass which is characterized by a straight foot and a hollow stem. They are made with three parisons: one for the stem, one for the stem and one for the container. We see the resumption of the pontil under certain glasses. The hollow stems of glasses #20 and #21 have been pinched to form a four-lobed pattern. Fragment n°24 has a decorative glass net on the body. The containers have different shapes, conical or tulip. In view of the shape of these objects, we can say that they date from the end of the 17th century or the 18th century.
Lion muzzle glasses : forme XVII.A2.d
The three glass fragments with lion's muzzles discovered on the site are made with three parisons. The central button was blown into a mold to print patterns on it. Here, glass n°1 clearly shows a muzzle on one side and a distorted pattern which may be another muzzle. One can imagine that the mold used was worn. These muzzles are interspersed with floral motifs. For objects n°2 and n°3, the fragments are too small to see the drawings. These central buttons are connected to the container or to the foot by a solid glass amolisse. For objects n°2 and n°3 the base of the cup seems spherical. The foot is flat in the shape of a disc as can be seen on glass n°1. This form of glass is present in many European (Spain, Netherlands) and French sites but very little in the south of France. Also these objects discovered at the castle of Aujac in the northern part of France make them interesting. Chemical analyses[1] were carried out on these three objects. They are of sodium composition whose fondant is based on glasswort ashes. For n° 24 and 25, the Zr is average as in the productions of Languedoc whereas for n° 3 the ashes are much purer. This is insufficient to give the origin of the manufacture of these objects.
[1] Tous nos remerciements à Bernard Gratuze du laboratoire Iramat/université d’Orléans, Institut de Recherche sur les archéomatériaux, centre Ernest Babelon, UMR 5060 CNRS, pour la réalisation de ces analyses.
One object is remarkable: a ribbed flask, discovered between the stones of the castle on the first floor.
The second type corresponds to a vial with a complete shape and of a type never seen before in France. This makes this discovery exceptional. This yellowish object with a flattened shape and which measures 9.8 cm was blown into a mold to print ribs on its wall. The neck is arched and its lip rounded by heating on the flame. Assumptions have been made as to its use in view of its particular shape: gun pear, perfume vial.
As no French comparison could be made, it is in Germany that an object can be compared to this one. This is a snuff flask discovered in the fortress of Bourtange and dating from the 18th century (Henkes 1994). Chemical analyzes have been carried out on this object. These show that this flask is of sodium composition, the flux of which is based on glasswort ashes. The Zr is in average quantity like the productions of the Languedoc workshops. Also, the mystery remains: is it an object from the east of France or even Germany or is it a local production? As this object is new, it is not possible to answer this question in the current state of our knowledge.
Conclusion
The glassware is representative of a place of residence. Some objects stand out from this set because of their chemical composition or typology. The presence of "lion's muzzle" glasses in this geographical set is to be noted as well as new objects such as the ribbed flask or buttons.
(Photos Catherine Hébrard-Salivas- Copyright)
Pour lire l'article en entier, il faut se référer à la monographie réalisée sous la direction de Philippe Durand
Références : Hébrard-Salivas C., Etude des objets en verre du château du Cheylard, In. Le château du Cheylard (commune d'Aujac, Gard), "sentinelle des Cévennes" Durand P. (Dir.), Chagny, 2021
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