Roman, early Imperial Period, ca. 1st to early 2nd century CE. An absolutely beautiful bottle, free-blown from near-opaque glass of a cobalt-blue hue. The vessel is defined by a rounded base and smooth pontil scar, a piriform body, a cylindrical neck, and an everted rim with an in-folded lip. A singular trail of opaque white glass coils around the base - in a manner that provides stability to the otherwise rounded bottom - and terminates just beneath the bottom of the neck. Vessels like these were used by wealthy Roman women to hold scented oils, perfumes, or other scarce beauty-related products. Fine rainbow-hued iridescence envelops the composition and imbues it with an elegant presentation evocative of ancient Rome! Size: 2" W x 4.4" H (5.1 cm x 11.2 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: ex-John DeCarlo collection, New Jersey, USA
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.
#149279
Condition
Repaired from multiple pieces, with petite areas of restoration, and light adhesive residue along break lines. Minor abrasions to base, body, neck, and rim, with losses to areas of white trailing near neck, and light encrustations. Pontil mark on underside of base. A pontil scar or mark indicates that a vessel was free-blown, while the absence of such a mark suggests that the work was either mold-blown or that the mark was intentionally smoothed away or wore away over time. Light earthen deposits and great rainbow iridescence throughout.