Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 3rd to 4th century CE. A gorgeous, semi-translucent, hand-blown green glass sprinkler flask with a petite footed base and smooth pontil, a piriform body with several diagonal, pattern-molded grooves, a constricted neckline, a large collared rim, and a pair of applied trail handles - each with four pinched lobes. A constricted opening is situated inside the mouth - hence the name "sprinkler flask" - and it was meant to conservatively dispense perfumes and other scented oils that were not meant to be applied liberally. The rim also aids in mitigating the flow of liquids, allowing for any excess to be easily poured back into the flask. Areas of brilliant silver and rainbow iridescence complement the pale-sage body coloration with hues of amethyst, emerald, citrine, sapphire, ruby, and topaz. A fantastic example of Roman-era glassblowing! Size: 2.375" W x 2.875" H (6 cm x 7.3 cm).
Most scholars agree that 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 than metal or clay. Roman glassmakers reached incredible artistic heights with both free-blown vessels and mold blown forms and decorations.
This piece exemplifies the beauty of ancient glass, its sublime form and artistic aesthetic of the caliber that impressed Seneca who marveled in his "Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium" (65 CE) that a glassblower could "by his breath alone, fashion glass into numerous shapes which could scarcely be accomplished by the most skillful hand."
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
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#133098
Condition
Surface wear commensurate with age as expected, small nicks to top of one handle and the bottom of the other, and a few stable pressure fissures, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits as well as lovely silver and rainbow iridescence throughout.