Roman, Imperial period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. A truly breathtaking glass flask boasting a simple yet elegant form enveloped in layers of fiery iridescence. Sitting upon a concave base, the ancient vessel presents a squat body with a rounded shoulder that tapers to a slender, slightly conical neck and a flared and folded rim. The radiant iridescence ignites the surface, splattering psychedelic hues of neon green, indigo, yellow, and orange creating a mesmerizing effect. Size: 4" Diameter x 5.9" H (10.2 cm x 15 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.

Exhibited in "Ancient Glass: Selections from the Richard Brockway Collection" at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, Salem from March 10 to May 19, 2007 and "Glass of the Ancient World" at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida from October 11 to December 28, 2008.

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired before 2003

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#177738

Intact and excellent with heavy weathering film and stunning iridescence. Pontil mark on underside of base. A pontil scar or mark indicates that a vessel was free-blown, while the absence of such a mark suggests that the work was either mold-blown or that the mark was intentionally smoothed away or wore away over time.