**First Time At Auction**

Roman, Imperial period, Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 1st to 4th century CE. A delightful jar, free-blown from translucent, ochre-hued glass to present a rounded body with a corseted neck-line, a flared mouth, and a folded rim flanked by a pair of trailed handles that connect rim to shoulder. Each crested handle elegantly rises from the shoulder, tapering as it gracefully tucks below the rim and then folds over it. Note the gorgeous, ultraviolet-hued iridescence that delicately kisses the surface, complementing its form without overwhelming its soft coloring. Size: 3.6" W x 3.9" H (9.1 cm x 9.9 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

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#177395

Stable hairline fissure from rim to shoulder near handle, and chipping to top of one handle. Otherwise, intact and excellent with gorgeous 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.