Roman Round Bodied Glass Flask with Iridescence AD 100-300

Description

Material: Glass

Period: Imperial Rome

Date: 1st century

Origin: Roman empire

Condition: Fine+. some weathering and encrustations. but its iridescence is still evident

Description: A glass flask with spherical body and a short funnel-shaped neck with flanged mouth.

Size and Weight: 70mm x60mm. 40g

Features and Provenance: From a UK collection

With the relative peace of the Augustian reign of the 1st century AD artisans flooded into Italy particularly Rome to make and trade their wares. New techniques for glass production came with them. The original sand/cast method of glass production was replaced by glass blowing which revolutionised their designs. It not only became cheaper and allowed recycling of errors it also mallowed for the addition of metals and minerals to colour the glass. such as iron for a green or cadmium for yellow and lovely forms of iridescence as seen in our example. Glass became the most popular form of container for perfumes and medicines as it wasn’t porous.

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of the artefact and there are grades between

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of pattern etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of pattern etc present. but may be worn

Fine (F). Wear on the artefact and parts of item and pattern etc may be missing or not visible