**First Time At Auction**

Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. A broad and deep bowl that is free-blown from semi-translucent glass of soft yellow-green hues. The substantial serving vessel features a protruding ring foot surrounding a rough pontil scar, a rounded lower body that forms the overall profile, a protruding kick in the center of the basin, thin walls, and an out-folded rim. Thick layers of rainbow iridescence have formed across the surfaces and gracefully complement the gentle spring hues of the bowl. Size: 8.375" W x 2.875" H (21.3 cm x 7.3 cm); 11.25" H (28.6 cm) on included custom stand.

Most scholars agree, Roman glass was of the highest quality - both aesthetically and technically - among the ancients. While glass making had been practiced for centuries, glass blowing was invented in the Roman-controlled Holy Land in the 1st century BCE. This innovative technology revolutionized the artform. We can appreciate such a wide variety of forms and shapes, because the medium of glass has unique physical properties that make for so many more possibilities which would eventually replace a wide variety of pottery and metal wares in the ancient world. Roman glassmakers reached incredible artistic heights with both free-blown vessels and mold blown forms and decorations and were traded far beyond the Roman Empire. Roman glass vessels have been found in Scandinavia, India, and in Han Dynasty tombs in China.

Exhibited in "Ancient Glass: Selections from the Richard Brockway Collection" at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, Salem from March 10 to May 19, 2007 and "Glass of the Ancient World" at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida from October 11 to December 28, 2008.

Published in "Ancient Glass: Selections from the Richard Brockway Collection." Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, Salem, 2007; "Glass of the Ancient World." Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida; and "Antiques & Art Around Florida," Fall 2009 - Winter 2010. "Collecting Ancient Glass" by Richard Brockway with Lynette Macleod, pp. 26-27, 44-45, 47.

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired before 2003

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#177391

Weathering film and earthen deposits on most surfaces, with scattered abrasions, otherwise intact and near-choice. Great iridescence throughout and wonderful size!