Rome, Imperial Period, ca. 2nd to 4th century CE. In a word, WOW! This vessel is quite a gem - created via a complicated process involving gradually blowing the glass into a mold and then repositioning it to create the basketweave-like pattern comprised of bands of slightly concave oblong depressions that interweave with one another and boasting luscious caramel amber and golden yellow hues - the exterior walls mesmerize with brilliant color, pattern, iridescence, and translucency! Size: 4.75" in diameter x 1.875" H (12.1 cm x 4.8 cm)

For collectors of Roman glass, some colors are more prized than others. The brilliance of golden amber is certainly among these. In addition to this vessel's beautiful hue, its form is most unusual. The following quote poetically describes the artistic process of creating free-blown glass in ancient Rome, "First he heated the very point of the iron, then snatched from nearby a lump of bright glass and placed it skillfully within the hollow furnace. And the crystal as it tasted the heat of the fire was softened by the strokes of Hephaestus like . . .he blew in from his mouth a quick breath . . . .like a man essaying the most delightful art of the flute. The glass received the force of his breath and became swollen out around itself like a sphere before it. It would receive another onslaught of the divine breath, for often swinging it like an ox-herd his crook he would breath into . . ." ( P. Oxy. 50.3536, a third century poem on glass blowing - R.A. Coles, Oxyrhynchus Papyri 50 (1983), p. 58 from "Solid Liquid" catalogue, Fortuna Fine Arts, New York, 1999, p. 56)

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#135260

Broken pontil mark on concave center of base. Two old nicks on interior base. Traces of silvery and rainbow iridescence grace the interior and exterior walls.