Roman Glass Pillar Molded Bowl - Rainbow Iridescence
**Originally Listed At $1200**
Roman, early Imperial Period, ca. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. A beautiful bowl of a thick-walled composition made from pale aqua-hued glass with delicate, undulating exterior ribbed walls. The base is slightly concave and forms a shallow kick in the middle of the shallow basin, and the rim projects upwards to a thick, fire-polished lip. This style of glass is known as "pillar-molded" as it refers to the production technique, where the shape of the bowl was determined by taking a flat sheet of pliable glass and placing it into a solid mold upside-down; this glass was then worked so that it slipped/sagged over the mold to create the exterior ribs. Bowls like this one were used as part of the Roman "cena," or dinner, perhaps for holding condiments like garum (fermented fish sauce). Size: 4.875" W x 1.5" H (12.4 cm x 3.8 cm).
Most scholars agree, Roman glass was of the highest quality - both aesthetically and technically - among the ancients. While glass making had been practiced for centuries, glass blowing was invented in the Roman-controlled Holy Land in the 1st century BCE. This innovative technology revolutionized the artform. We can appreciate such a wide variety of forms and shapes, because the medium of glass has unique physical properties that make for so many more possibilities which would eventually replace a wide variety of pottery and metal wares in the ancient world. Roman glassmakers reached incredible artistic heights with both free-blown vessels and mold blown forms and decorations and were traded far beyond the Roman Empire. Roman glass vessels have been found in Scandinavia, India, and in Han Dynasty tombs in China.
For a stylistically-similar example of a lighter color, please see "Solid Liquid: Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Glass." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 1999, p. 40, fig. 47.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Martin Wunsch collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1980s
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#139617
Condition Report: Minor abrasions to base and rim, one stable hairline fissure near kick on rim, with light encrustations, and micro-bubbling within glass matrix, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits as well as faint rainbow iridescence throughout.
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**Originally Listed At $1200**
Roman, early Imperial Period, ca. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. A beautiful bowl of a thick-walled composition made from pale aqua-hued glass with delicate, undulating exterior ribbed walls. The base is slightly concave and forms a shallow kick in the middle of the shallow basin, and the rim projects upwards to a thick, fire-polished lip. This style of glass is known as "pillar-molded" as it refers to the production technique, where the shape of the bowl was determined by taking a flat sheet of pliable glass and placing it into a solid mold upside-down; this glass was then worked so that it slipped/sagged over the mold to create the exterior ribs. Bowls like this one were used as part of the Roman "cena," or dinner, perhaps for holding condiments like garum (fermented fish sauce). Size: 4.875" W x 1.5" H (12.4 cm x 3.8 cm).
Most scholars agree, Roman glass was of the highest quality - both aesthetically and technically - among the ancients. While glass making had been practiced for centuries, glass blowing was invented in the Roman-controlled Holy Land in the 1st century BCE. This innovative technology revolutionized the artform. We can appreciate such a wide variety of forms and shapes, because the medium of glass has unique physical properties that make for so many more possibilities which would eventually replace a wide variety of pottery and metal wares in the ancient world. Roman glassmakers reached incredible artistic heights with both free-blown vessels and mold blown forms and decorations and were traded far beyond the Roman Empire. Roman glass vessels have been found in Scandinavia, India, and in Han Dynasty tombs in China.
For a stylistically-similar example of a lighter color, please see "Solid Liquid: Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Glass." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 1999, p. 40, fig. 47.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Martin Wunsch collection, New York, USA, acquired in the 1980s
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#139617
Condition Report: Minor abrasions to base and rim, one stable hairline fissure near kick on rim, with light encrustations, and micro-bubbling within glass matrix, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits as well as faint rainbow iridescence throughout.
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