Roman, Imperial Period, ca. late 3rd to 4th century CE. A fine free-blown glass pitcher of a transparent, pale-green color with a slight concave base with a smooth pontil scar, a sizable apple-shaped body, a rolled shoulder with a tubular neck, an everted and in-folded rim, and a wide applied trail handle joining rim to shoulder. The handle, made from a seafoam-hued glass, was applied and then double-folded before it was attached to the underside of the rim. Fiery areas of silvery and rainbow-hued iridescence in hues of amethyst, citrine, emerald, and sapphire accentuate the muted color of the vessel, imbuing it with an elegant presentation. Size: 4" W x 6.8" H (10.2 cm x 17.3 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.
For a similar example with a footed base, please see "Solid Liquid: Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Glass." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 1999, p. 86, fig. 154.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
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#135598
Condition
Surface wear and minor abrasions commensurate with age, light roughness and very minor nicks to base, body, and handle, otherwise intact and excellent. Nice earthen deposits and great silver and rainbow iridescence throughout. Old inventory sticker on base.