Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. A beautiful glass vessel of rich cobalt blue hues and a beautiful design, comprised of a tubular body that dramatically turns to flat shoulders and then rises in a gradually flaring neck to a broad rim. The base is marked with a nice pontil scar. Simple yet elegant and presenting beautiful cobalt blue hues! Size: 4.3" H (10.9 cm); 4.75" H (12.1 cm) on included custom stand.
For collectors of Roman glass, some colors are more prized than others. The brilliance of cobalt blue is certainly among these. In addition to this vessel's beautiful hue, its form is most elegant. 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 East Coast, USA collection
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#137678
Condition
A stable crack to the side wall of the body. Areas of weathering film. Nice broken pontil on the base.