Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. A stunning, free-blown, semi-translucent aryballos of pale blue-green glass with a spherical body, a cylindrical neck, a flattened discoid rim, and a pair of thick applied loops joining neck to shoulder. Threaded through each loop are bronze loops fastened to the upturned balustrade terminals of an arch-shaped bronze handle. The patina on the bronze pairs nicely with the iridescent tones of the glass patina. Size with handles raised: 3.85" W x 7" H (9.8 cm x 17.8 cm)

This style of vessel was made for carrying oil to a public bath, part of the ritual of bathing that included rubbing the body with oil mixed with fine sand and then wiping it clean with a long, flat instrument with a sharp edge called a strigil. Many other aryballoi are heavy, but this one has a delicacy that speaks to the skill of the artisan who made it. This vessel was made using the glassblowing technique that revolutionized the glass industry in ancient Rome, taking it from a small, specialized production limited to a few local regions to a huge consumer technology in the mid-first century CE. Where items would once have been made of pottery, suddenly they were made of glass, which became omnipresent in Roman life. Examples of aryballoi like this one with their bronze chains and handles still present are very rare.

A similar example hammered for $10,000 at Christie's, New York Antiquities Auction (sale 12256, April 12, 2016, lot 95): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-roman-glass-aryballos-circa-2nd-century-5984843-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5984843&sid=6aee95cc-3813-47db-802f-1e2905d1d8f6

For another similar example, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 17.194.193: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249437

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#135509

The glass handles have been reattached and there is a small, stable crack extending from the base of each handle. Bronze loop has been reattached with modern bronze loops. Great silver and rainbow iridescence across most of vessel. Nice brown and green patina throughout bronze elements.