Circa 300-400 AD
A finely modelled double balsamarium in dark green glass; The vessel is composed of two conjoined tubular phials with slightly flared and thickened rims. This vessel would originally have had two applied handles to further enrich the balsarium, stretching from its body and folding onto the rim. An additional basket-handle features at the top, marked by deep grooves.
For similar see:
Roman Glass in the Corning Museum Volume 1-3.
Ancient and Islamic Glass in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, p. 115, nos. 194-198.
For an introduction to Roman glass see:
Brill, R.H., 1967: "A Great Glass Slab from Ancient Galilee," Archaeology.
Charleston, R.J., 1978: "Glass Furnaces through the Ages," Journal of Glass Studies 20.
Fleming, S.J., 1999: Roman Glass: Reflections on Cultural Change, Appendix A (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum).
Grose, D.F., 1989: Early Ancient Glass, various sections (New York: Hudson Hills).
Mazor, G., and Bar-Nathan, R., 1998: "The Bet She'an Excavation Project 1992-1994," Excavations and Surveys in Israel 17, 5-38.
Stern, E.M. and Schlick-Nolte, B., 1994: Early Glass of the Ancient World, 72-79 (Ostfildern: Verlag Gerd Hatje).
Weinberg, G.D., 1988: Excavations at Jalome, 38-102 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press).
Size: L:174mm / W:59mm; 75g
Provenance: Private London collection; acquired in the 1990s on the UK art market.