**Originally Listed At $500**

Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 2nd to 4th century CE. A fabulous free-blown glass sprinkler flask with a concave base and rough pontil. The vessel, comprised of delicate pale-green glass, has a piriform body with several diagonal ribs flowing gently towards the base. The neck base is pinched, with an extremely narrow interior hole characteristic of sprinkler flasks; it also has a tubular neck with a folded and flared rim. The applied slender ring around the interior of the neck was designed to constrict it to ensure that the precious contents, like scented oils or perfumes, would not spill or could not be poured too quickly. Lovely areas of fiery rainbow-hued iridescence grace the surface and give a lovely complementarity to the color of the vessel itself. Size: 3.75" H (9.5 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, the Romans invented glass blowing in the 1st century BCE which 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 mould blown forms and decorations.

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired before 2003 in London, from an old English collection

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#129811

Age-commensurate surface wear, with small hairline fissures near neck and rim. Small cracks are indicative of iridescence flaking. Nice earthen deposits and rainbow iridescence overall.