Lot 31
Roman Empire, Lebanon, Sidonian, ca. mid 1st to early 2nd century CE. A fine mold blown flask resembling a fruit - perhaps in the date family - with an impressed textured surface - the body of the vessel in gorgeous translucent golden hued glass with hints of aubergine - its generally oblong form with a short neck and a flaring rim of greener tones. Note how the mold was carefully crafted to create the impression of a fruit's wrinkled skin. In addition to its stunning coloring, generous areas of rainbow iridescence cast a mesmerizing glow upon the surface. Size: 3.875" H (9.8 cm); 4.25" H (10.8 cm) on included custom stand.
Here are the ancient encyclopedist Pliny's words as he describes his voyage to Sidon - 'where glass is made': "From this point on we must go back to the coast and to Phoenicia. There was formerly a town called Crocodilian, and there still is a river of that name
Then comes Cape Carmel
Next are Getta, Geba, and the river Pacida or Belus
Close to this river is Ptolemais
Next Tyre, once an island separated from the mainland by a very deep sea-channel 700 yards wide, but now joined to it by the works constructed by Alexander when besieging the place
but the entire renown of Tyre now consists in a shell-fish and a purple dye!
Next are Zarephath and the city of birds (Ornithon oppidum), and Sidon, the mother-city of Thebes in Boeotia where glass is made." (Pliny, Natural History V.75-76, 77-79 CE).
Provenance: ex-private S. Shalom collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1970s
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#137620
- Condition: Stabilized crack down one side of the vessel and a smaller fissure on the neck. Rim possibly reattached but almost invisibly reattached. Amazing rainbow iridescence as well as earthen deposits grace the surface.
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