Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. A stunning, sizeable, and semi-translucent free-blown glass vessel with a flat base and a smooth pontil. The integral foot traces upwards to an elegant body with rolling shoulders and a tapered neckline, with a tubular spout, splayed collar rim, and applied undulating trail handle imbuing it with a sumptuous form. A pair of applied glass rings rest just beneath the rim as well as around the neck. The glass itself is of a pale-green color, though time and environmental conditions have created a fiery auburn hue on the body. The foot has a deep port-wine color, giving the vessel a tri-color presentation. Brilliant areas of silvery and rainbow-hued iridescence ignite the oinochoe in a palette of emerald, citrine, amethyst, sapphire, ruby, and topaz. A fantastic example from ancient Rome! Size: 2.75" W x 8" H (7 cm x 20.3 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 new 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.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
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#133192
Condition
Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age as expected, light roughness to foot, body, handle, and rim, and a very minor nick to top terminal of trail handle, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits as well as fabulous silver and rainbow iridescence throughout.