To start the New Year, we present the biggest hit of last year: a phallus-shaped vessel from the Archaeological and Historical Museum in Elbląg. This unusual object is unique on a European scale - there are no similar ones preserved in their entirety. This intricately made vessel was created at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries and probably came to Poland from the Czech Republic, Rhineland, Hesse or the Netherlands.

There is a lack of documents that would tell us (undoubtedly sensational) history of the vessel. We can only speculate who owned it and what was its purpose. We only know that the damage was done during the use of the vessel, after which the phallus was deposited in the latrine - it was a common "cemetery" for damaged glasses and ceramics.
The object is made of light green glass with tiny air bubbles, decorated with glued glass thread in the upper part. The initially transparent surface of the glass has been iridescent, it is almost entirely covered with bright matt spots. The surface of the lower part of the object is entirely covered with a whitish, matt, smooth layer. It took us a while to choose and elaborate the proper method of its conservation. Ultimately, we decided to create our own frame made of colored epoxy resin and to clean and protect the glass surface so that it would not be further damaged.
After many tests and making numerous prototypes, we have created a frame consisting of 4 parts, of which 3 have been permanently connected together, and the last has become a separate stabilizing module. All of the work was made possible by interdisciplinary cooperation with an expert in the field of design and 3D printing, the effects of which you can evaluate in the pictures below.

3D prototypes:

Epoxy resin frame:

Final effect:

The latest news is that a phallus-shaped vessel with a frame has set off on a long journey across Europe and is currently being exhibited in Magdeburg. We are very pleased to know that we could contribute to this!
We thank the Archaeological and Historical Museum in Elbląg for cooperation, providing access to existing documentation and publications regarding the conserved object.