Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. A lovely translucent glass vessel of a pale-green hue with a slight concave base and a smooth pontil scar, a bulbous body with several tooled indentations and spiralized grooves, a tubular neck, and an everted rim. Two applied trail handles of a deep turquoise color join either side of the neck to the body, and a single turquoise trail of applied rigaree adorned the area just beneath the rim. Thick areas of brilliant silvery and rainbow-hued iridescence complement the muted olive coloration with hues of sapphire, emerald, citrine, amethyst, and ruby. A gorgeous example of fine Roman-era artistry! Size: 3.375" W x 5" H (8.6 cm x 12.7 cm).

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.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#135626

Surface wear and minor abrasions commensurate with age, very minor nicks to tops of handles and around rim, with some light roughness across rim and base, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits and great silvery and rainbow iridescence throughout.