Ca. 50-200 AD. A beautiful light green, blown glass dish with a rounded lip on a low round foot. Strabo (Geography 16.2.25) tells us that the Romans in the early Imperial period (1st century AD) were masters of glass-making techniques: ‘At Rome, also, it is said that many inventions are made, both for producing the colours and for facilitating production techniques, as, for example, of wares resembling rock crystal; thus one can buy there a [glass] bowl or drinking vessel for a copper.’ By the Late Roman period (4th–5th century AD), good quality glass tableware such as this one – which were kept in the dining/reception rooms or the entrance room of a house – were less common and could have been used as a showpiece and perhaps even as a status symbol, suggesting that glass vessels played an important role in Late Antique dining and society. Comparative piece: Harden, D. B. (1987). Glass of the Caesars. Milan: Olivetti. p. 98.Size: L:53mm / W:235mm ; 278.3gProvenance: Private collection of a London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/International art market since the 1970s.