Greek Hellenistic Glass Flask, Black w/ White Marble

**Originally Listed At $3500**

Ancient Greece, Hellenistic Period, ca. 1st century BCE. A stunning mosaic glass flask of a classic piriform body rising to a tubular neck and a flattened disk rim, all on a flat base - the surface mesmerizing with its rich, dark aubergine/brown (presenting as nearly black) and white color scheme (with the occasional overlapping to form creamy beige and sienna brown hues) - the white bands forming wave patterns across the exterior walls and swirls on the base and rim. Examples like this were created to replicate the natural banded stones such as sardonyx and agate found in nature. Size: 3" in diameter at the widest point x 4.25" H (7.6 cm x 10.8 cm)

A similar example sold at Christie's New York for $10,000 - June 8, 2012 - Lot 130. Their description aptly quotes Wight (Molten Color, Glassmaking in Antiquity, p. 42). A Hellenistic innovation "was to create mosaic glass objects that not only used cut segments of a glass cane but also were patterned with longer cane pieces that were then molded into vessel shapes … While many of the ribbon glass vessels are extremely colorful, glassmakers continued to try to replicate nature by combining colors and patterns that imitated naturally banded stone such as agate and sardonyx."

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Martin Wunsch collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1980s

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#143488
Condition Report: Minor surface wear expected with age. Otherwise intact and superb.