Lot 52
Roman, late Republic to early Imperial Period, ca. late 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. A gorgeous mold-formed hemispherical bowl made from translucent pale-green, near-colorless glass with a slight concave base, rounded walls, a deep interior cavity, and a thick rim. The interior of the vessel is lined with a pair of fine wheel-cut striations which add an elegant decorative flair. The rim and exterior exhibit a fire-polished surface, and the entire bowl is covered in thick layers of silvery and rainbow-hued iridescence. A sublime example of high-quality glasswork from the early Roman Empire! Size: 4.875" Diameter x 2.5" H (12.4 cm x 6.4 cm).
Pliny the Elder paid homage to the beauty of the many hues created in hand-blown glass, but pointed out that colorless translucent glass was the most coveted, "There is, furthermore, opaque white glass and others that reproduce the appearance of fluor-spar, blue sapphires or lapis lazuli, and, indeed, glass exists in any color . . . However, the most highly valued glass is colorless and transparent, as closely as possible resembling rock-crystal." (Pliny, Natural History XXXVI.198 from "Solid Liquid: Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Glass." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 1999, p. 64)
For a stylistically-similar example, please see Grose, David Frederick. "The Toledo Museum of Art, Early Ancient Glass." New York, 1989, pp. 206-207, figs. 216-217.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection
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#134732
- Condition: Surface wear and minor abrasions commensurate with age, minor nicks to rim and base, some stable hairline pressure fissures within glass matrix, and some micro-bubbling, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits and wonderful silver and rainbow-iridescence throughout.
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