Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 3rd to 4th century CE. Oh me oh my, what a beauty! A stunning glass vessel presenting a near spherical body - the body translucent and colorless - but elegantly decorated with a trail of golden yellow glass that zigzags around the midline, a short cylindrical neck, a tall funnel mouth that is tastefully adorned by threadlike trails of lemon yellow glass, and three thick golden trail handles billowing from rim to shoulder, all sitting upon a flattened circular trail of golden yellow glass applied to the base. Simply stunning! Size: 3.375" in diameter at widest point x 3.875" H (8.6 cm x 9.8 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: private East Coast, USA collection
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#147779
Condition
Tiny nicks to upper ends of trail handles. Stable pressure cracks around lower end of one trail handle. Normal earthen deposits and faint weathering film as shown. Still overall very good with stunning form and coloration.