Roman, Late Imperial Period, ca. 3rd to 4th century CE. A huge pilgrim flask, free blown in light blue-green, translucent glass with a characteristically flattened, circular lentoid body leading to a cylindrical neck that is cinched at the base, and an infolded disk rim. In addition, the body is pinched on either side just below the neck. A gorgeous pilgrim flask - called this because of its flattened form which made it easy to fit into a traveler's bag - quite large and presenting stunning iridescence of purple, pink, yellow, and blue hues. Size: 6.625" in diameter x 9" H (16.8 cm x 22.9 cm); 9.5" H (24.1 cm) on included custom stand.

Such vessels were certainly utilitarian; however, examples like this one displayed immense artistry and technique. The following quote poetically describes the artistic process of creating free-blown glass in ancient Rome, "First he heated the very point of the iron, then snatched from nearby a lump of bright glass and placed it skillfully within the hollow furnace. And the crystal as it tasted the heat of the fire was softened by the strokes of Hephaestus like . . .he blew in from his mouth a quick breath . . . .like a man essaying the most delightful art of the flute. The glass received the force of his breath and became swollen out around itself like a sphere before it. It would receive another onslaught of the divine breath, for often swinging it like an ox-herd his crook he would breath into . . ." ( P. Oxy. 50.3536, a third century poem on glass blowing - R.A. Coles, Oxyrhynchus Papyri 50 (1983), p. 58 from "Solid Liquid" catalogue, Fortuna Fine Arts, New York, 1999, p. 56)

Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA; ex-Christie's December 13, 2013 New York Antiquities Auction, lot 50; ex-The Gershon Bineth Collection of Ancient Glass, Archaeological Center, Tel Aviv, January 20, 2010, lot 36; ex-Gershon Bineth (d. 1973) collection, Tel Aviv, Israel

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#132768

Normal surface wear and earthen deposits commensurate with age and weathering. Broken pontil. Two small (less than one inch), stable surface fissures on one side (difficult to see). Beautiful rainbow iridescence.