Board

After a break of over ten years, Ian Freestone rejoined the Board as President in 2023.  Since 2011 he has been Professor of Archaeological Materials and Technology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology.  He previously worked as Deputy Keeper of Conservation, Documentation and Science at the British Museum, then as Professorial Fellow and Head of Archaeology at Cardiff University.  His interests are in the technology, production and deterioration of artefacts and he has worked widely on glass, ceramics and metal from all periods up to the nineteenth century.  He is author of over 200 articles and has co-edited nine conference proceedings.  He is a recipient of the Archaeological Institute of America’s Pomerance Medal for scientific contributions to archaeology and a member of the editorial boards of Archaeometry, Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of Cultural Heritage and Journal of Glass Studies.  

Ana Franjić is a Postdoctoral Researcher at KU Leuven, where she is working on the isotopic analysis of glasses from South East Europe from various periods. She received her PhD on the subject of Iron Age glass technology from UCL in 2020. Her main interests are the connections and cross-craft interactions between ancient glassmakers and metallurgists, development of early natron glass, as well as the social contexts of glass production and use. Ana joined the board in 2021.

Victoria Lucus joined the board in 2020.

Suzanne Higgott is Curator of Glass, Limoges Painted Enamels, Earthenware and Early Furniture at the Wallace Collection in London, where she is also responsible for the Seminars in the History of Collecting. She is particularly interested in Venetian Renaissance glass, its revival and the market for Renaissance glass in the nineteenth century. Her publications on glass include the Wallace Collection Catalogue of Glass and Limoges Painted Enamels, London, 2011. Suzanne was on the comité scientifique for the exhibition ‘Le verre émaillé et doré, entre Italie et France à la Renaissance’, held at the Musée de la Renaissance, Ecouen, in 2021/22.

Jim Peake is Head of British and European Glass at Bonhams auctioneers in London. He studied Conservation at Cardiff University, undertaking analytical research into Islamic enamelled glass from the Mamluk period. He completed a PhD in Archaeological Science in 2013 focusing on the compositional analysis of early Anglo-Saxon glass beads from East Anglia. He now specialises in glass and ceramics from 1500-1900. He is a trustee of the both the Glass Society and the English Ceramic Circle. Jim joined the board of the AHG in 2018.

Sally Cottam completed her PhD on glass of the 1st century A.D. at King’s College, London in 2019. Previously she was the Research Assistant for the English Heritage funded Romano-British Glass Project and worked on glass from numerous sites in England and abroad. She now works as a freelance specialist, concentrating on glass of the Roman period. Sally joined the board of the AHG in 2012.

Daniela Rosenow studied Egyptology and Classics at the Humboldt-University Berlin (Germany) where she completed her PhD in 2008 on the temple of the ancient Egyptian cat goddess Bastet at Tell Basta/Bubastis in the north-eastern Nile delta. She is involved in various fieldwork projects in Egypt and as a result, has since 2011 investigated Roman, Late Antique and Early Islamic glass discovered in the country. From 2012-2014 she held a Marie Curie Postdoc Research Position at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology. Daniela is particularly interested in combining the strengths of archaeological and scientific glass research with a focus on reconstructing Egypt’s position in the 1st millennium AD glass trade. She joined the Board in 2014

Eleonora Montanari joined the board in 2020.

Colin Brain is a chartered mechanical engineer and with his late wife Sue spent nearly fifty years researching the history of British glass: particularly focusing on drinking glass in the second half of the seventeenth century. This period saw rapid commercial, technological and stylistic innovations that together provided the foundation for the British glass industry’s success. Colin joined the Board in 2004.

Victoria Sainsbury is a Departmental Lecturer in Archaeological Science, at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the scientific analysis of archaeological materials, with a particular interest in Roman and Post-Roman glass. Victoria joined the board in 2021.

David Marsh completed his PhD on the trade and consumption of Roman glass in Britain at the University of Birmingham in 2023. He has a BSc in Physics from the University of Birmingham, a MSc Glass Technology Research from Sheffield University, and a MBA from Sussex University. His career has included work developing the encapsulation of nuclear waste into glass, and the optimisation of supply chains in the food and beverage industry. He is now an independent archaeology researcher. David joined the board in 2023.

Tim Penn joined the board in 2020.

Caroline Jackson is Professor of Archaeological Materials at Sheffield University. Caroline re-joined the board in 2023.

Thomas Derrick is the Gale Research Fellow in Ancient Glass and Material Culture at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Tom’s research interests include Roman glass and its role in the sensory lives of past peoples. Tom joined the board in 2023.

Simon Spier joined the board in 2023.