Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle
Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle
Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle
Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle
Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle
Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle

Roman Period Blue Glass Bottle

SKU: SC.0002

Origin: Mediterranean
Circa: 2nd Century AD to 3rd Century AD
Dimensions: 4.5" Height x 2" Width (11.5 cm x 5.1 cm)
Medium: Glass

This exquisite blue-green glass flask from the Roman period features a stunning and varied surface due to the extensive time it spent underwater.  Being a shipwreck piece, it has developed the characteristic variegated patina, complete with patches of heavy encrustation and layered accretions.  The vessel is free-blown with a piriform body, and long cylindrical neck. A flared rim and a rounded lip complete the form.  Shipwreck items such as this, especially glass, develop a complex and delicate surface over time which can be considered a work of art in it's own right.

More information View images
$2,500.00

Private Maritime Academic Collection, acquired prior to 2000. Private Collection, Orange County, California.

Intact and in fine condition. With heavy encrustations throughout. Layered iridescence to the body and neck with deep pitting.

Glass bottles, such as this beautiful example, were used as containers for ointments, powders, balms, and other expensive liquids associated with the toilet, especially perfumes. The small mouth of the bottle is ideal for slow, careful pouring, while glass was preferred for holding liquids, due to its non-porous, non-absorbent nature. Glass vessels are found frequently at Hellenistic, Roman and Levantine sites, and the liquids that filled them would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire.

For a comparable example of the type see "Glass Bottle," from the Art Institute Chicago, accession number 1949.1169.

You may also like

Recently viewed