Roman Pale Turquoise Glass Beaker

£ 595.00

A very fine Roman beaker blown from translucent pale turquoise glass. The beaker sits upon a circular stemmed foot from which the sides slightly flare outwards as they rise. The rim is thickened and flat and there are several horizontal ridges decorating the upper half of the beaker. Earthly encrustation is visible to both the interior and exterior of the piece.

Date: Circa 4th-5th century AD
Provenance: From a London, UK, collection, 1990s.
Condition: Very fine condition, some encrustation to the surface.

SOLD

SKU: LD-814 Category:

As the Roman Empire progressed and expanded, glass production evolved dramatically, becoming one of the Empire’s leading commercial industries. The vitriarii, glassmakers, had been introduced to the glassblowing method which was used to expand their repertoire of shapes and designs significantly. As a consequence, Roman glass was then used as a great trading commodity across the whole of the known world. Glassblowing allowed different shapes and designs to be forged, the walls were able to become thinner creating a more translucent appearance. Different coloured glass was created by adding different metals during the process. The addition of copper created a blue and green colouring, much like this cup, which has also been produced with the typical thinner walls customary of glass blown vessels, allowing for a beautiful transparency.

To find out more about Ancient Roman glass please visit our relevant blog post: Ancient Glass

Weight 74.7 g
Dimensions W 6.5 x H 11.4 cm
Culture

Glass

Region

Reference: For a similar item,The British Museum, item 2003,0303.6

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