**First Time At Auction**

Rome, Imperial Period, ca. 2nd to 4th century CE. A stunning free-blown glass single-handled pitcher that is also a sprinkler vessel with an inner diaphragm at the junction of the neck and body, presenting an elegant piriform body that rises to a tubular neck followed by a flared spout with a folded rim, and a generous trail of glass joining shoulder to neck to serve as the handle. The glass is a gorgeous blue-green hue that has developed marvelous swirls of rainbow and sparkling silvery iridescence. Sprinkler flasks, with their constriction rings at the base of the neck, were used to sprinkle precious rose water or perfumes. Size: 4.375" H (11.1 cm)

Most scholars agre that 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 during 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.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#135307

A wonderful example with a broken pontil mark on the base, some areas of encrustation, and incredible rainbow and silvery iridescence gracing the surface.