Ca. 200-300 AD. A beautiful deep amber-coloured glass flask with a wide mouth, folded rim, tapering neck leading to a tear-drop-shaped body. Glass was a major manufacturing industry in the Roman Empire, especially after the invention of glassblowing in the middle of the first century BC, when glass became used for a variety of purposes including vessels, jewellery and construction materials such as glass or tiles. Roman glassmaking reached the farthest corners of the Empire and flourished until about 400 AD, when the Roman Empire started to disintegrate, finally falling in the late 5th century AD.Size: L:85mm / W:50mm ; 28gProvenance: From the private collection of a Central London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/European art market formed in the 1980s