Ancient Greek Glass Eastern Mediterranean. Blue and Yellow Core-formed Glass Alabastron. 13 cm H. Intact.

Alabastron Greek, 3rd century B. C. MATERIAL: Glass paste DIMENSIONS: Height 13 cm PROVENANCE: Private collection J. Martí, Barcelona, Spain. Formed during 1960 - 1990. Acquired in the Barcelona - Madrid art market. CONDITION: Intact, see photos. DESCRIPTION: This elegant glass is an example of a cylindrical alabastron with small lug handles. The glass is primarily a deep cobalt blue, ornamented with a rich mustard yellow, which are applied in thin feathered bands. A thin thread of white glass spirals up the alabastron’s slender neck to the wide rim. Alabastra are vessels with elongated, cylindrical bodies and broad rims. These vessels are not only beautiful, but functional: alabastra were containers for perfumed oils, their wide rims allowing their precious contents to be dispensed easily in small quantities. As the name suggests, these vessels in glass are probably modeled after those made in alabaster. Although the name of the vase is derived from a form of Greek ceramic, the same vessel has been made in bronze, stone and glass paste. It was used in antiquity to hold oils, especially perfumed oils for massages. The objects made from glass paste belonged to the most well-to-do strata of society and were considered to be luxury objects, and as such were exported and traded all around the Mediterranean. Core-forming is the manufacturing technique devised to make glass vessels. It remained the most common method of making small bottles and other glass containers for over fifteen hundred years, until the late Hellenistic period. In this procedure, a removable core of material – probably a combination of clay, mud or sand and an organic binder – is built up around a metal rod the shape of the hollow of the desired vessel. The core is then covered in some fashion with hot glass, and threads of glass are trailed over the core as it is rotated. Next, the vessel is repeatedly reheated and marvered on a flat stone slab. Decoration in the form of threads or blods may then added and pressed into the surface by marvering, usually after being combed or dragged by a bronze pin or hook into feather, festoon, upright festoon or zigzag patterns. Unless repeatedly reheated and marvered, vertical indentations caused by the tooling of the threads can be remain on the body. The metal rod is then removed and the vessel annealed. Afterwards, the core is scraped out, leaving a rough, often grey or reddish interior surface. Rim-disk, handle, pad-base and base-knob are applied separately after further reheating. One they have been added, it is difficult, or almost impossible, to further marver the vessel, and any additional threads applied to the rim, rim-disk, or base are left unmarvered or only partly marvered. BIBLIOGRAPHY: -\t. Arveiller-Dulong, Véronique; Dominique-Nenna, Marie. Les verres antiques I. Louvre Museum. Département des Antiquités Grecques, Étrusques et Romaines. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) . - According to Spanish legislation, items sent outside the European Union are subject to export taxes and will be added to the invoice, at the buyer's expense. These export fees are fixed on the final auction price and the tax rate is not applied directly on the total value of the item to be exported, but rather the different percentages by sections are applied to it: - Up to 6,000 euros: 5%. This export permit application process can take between 1-2 months maximum. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.