Kantharos; Rome 1st century AD Blown glass. It has

Kántharos; Rome 1st century AD.
Blown glass.
With earthy adhesions.
Provenance: Private Collection, Spain.
Measurements: 11.5 x 9 x 3.5 cm.
Glass vessel of bluish tonality with iridescences whose typology of high foot, camping body and lateral handles is reminiscent of the typology of the Kantharos. The piece is made of blown glass in such a way that the contents of the interior can be seen. The Kantharos or pitcher was a vessel or cup that was mostly used for drinking wine. It was a highly developed typology in ancient Greece and Rome, present in all periods of that culture. Its presence is recurrent in representations and it is often linked as an attribute to the god Dionysus.
The core technique appeared in Mesopotamia around 1500 BC, and first flourished in Egypt between 1500 and 1200 BC. A second flowering took place throughout the Mediterranean between the 6th and 1st centuries BC. It was the most widely used technique until the discovery of blown glass in Roman times, when it disappeared definitively. It consists of preparing the mass by placing the different substances in a crucible, where they are heated until they melt together. It is then left to cool and the surface is scraped, using only the centre, which is where the glass is purest. This process is repeated several times until the glass paste is as pure as possible. A core is then formed in the approximate shape of the desired piece with a mixture of clay, dung and straw, and is pricked on the end of a rod. This core was then covered with glass by dipping it into the crucible or, for a better result, by covering it with hot glass cords wrapped around it. To smooth it, the piece was rolled on a flat surface. This type of piece would be decorated with coloured glass threads, wound around it, mainly using shades of yellow, white and turquoise. Zig-zag or wavy lines are usually made up, dragging the threads lightly with a punch, always with the glass tempered so that it melts. The details of the mouths, handles, feet, etc., were made with tweezers and pliers, or by adding a little more glass. Finally, the piece is left to cool slowly in the kiln, and once it has cooled, the rod is removed and the core is taken out, crumbling it with the help of a punch. This technique limits the size of the pieces, which must be small. The pieces from the Second Flourishing period, to which this alabastron belongs, show the same colours and decorations as those from the first period, but differ from the earlier ones in their typology, which is now derived from Greek ceramics.