Roman Empire, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. A beautiful free-blown pale green glass sprinkler flask with a concave base and smooth pontil, rounded body with pronounced diagonally-swirled ribbing, a cylindrical neck, collared rim, and two applied undulating handles. Sprinkler flasks, with their tooled constriction rings at the base of the neck, were used to sprinkle precious rose water or perfumes. Both silvery and rainbow iridescent patina and deposits cover most of the surface. Size: 3.5" W x 3.625" H (8.9 cm x 9.2 cm).

Roman glass was of a high quality, both aesthetically and technically, for this early time period. 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 mold blown forms and decorations.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Shlomo Moussaieff collection, 1948-2000, Israel

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#127763

Rim repaired from several pieces. Surface wear commensurate with age, some stable hairline fissures near rim and neck, with earthen deposits and encrustations throughout. Lovely silver and rainbow iridescence.