Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. An elegant free-blown glass flask with a translucent pale blue-green hue. The vessel rests on a slightly rounded but stable base that displays a pontil scar. The teardrop shaped body rises up to a long tubular neck with an out-folded rim. The surface is covered with weathering film that has developed over the ages, but areas of the aqua hue are still visible. Glass was highly valued throughout the Roman empire, and a dainty vessel such as this piece may have been used for storing a lady's perfume or scented oil. This flask is a wonderful example of ancient Roman artistry! Size: 1.75" in diameter x 4.5" H (4.4 cm x 11.4 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-private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA, acquired in May 2013; ex-Bonhams, London, Knightsbridge “Antiquities” auction (May 8, 2013, part of lot 171); ex-Joseph Klein collection, formed in New York between 1941 and 1980, thence by descent

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#139133

Expected surface wear commensurate with age. Collection label written on side of neck. Repair to neck and rim with possible restoration. Otherwise, excellent with earthen deposits throughout.