Ca. 200–300 AD. Roman. A free-blown sprinkler flask of transparent green glass with a spherical body, dipping at the shoulders, a short cylindrical neck and a wide, flanged profile mouth. Some weathering and incrustation occur throughout the flask; the outside shows a beautiful iridescence. At the height of its popularity and usefulness in Rome, glass was present in nearly every aspect of daily life—from a lady’s morning toilette to a merchant’s afternoon business dealings to the evening 'cena' (dinner). Glass was often the preferred material for storing toilette oils, perfumes, and medicines in antiquity because it was not porous. The small body and mouth allowed the user carefully to pour and control the amount of liquid dispensed. By the 1st century AD, the technique of glass-blowing had revolutionised the art of glass-making, allowing for the production of small medicine, incense, and perfume containers in new forms. These glass vessels are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, and the liquids which filled them (perfumes, oils, medicines) would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire. To find out more about glass objects in the Roman world, Bayley, J., Freestone, I., & Jackson, C. (2015). Glass of the Roman World. Oxford And Philadelphia: Oxbow Books. For a similar item sold at Christie's, see https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5385381. Provenance: Private UK collection; From an old British collection formed in the 1980s. Size: L:94mm / W:80mm ; 48.5g