Elegant Roman Blue Glass Unguentarium

$1,073.52

An exquisite Roman blue glass unguentarium featuring a piriform body leading to a cylindrical neck, everted folded rim and flattened base. The deep blue colour along with the elegant elongated shape make this an exceptional vessel. Some earthly deposits to the surface. The item displays a magnificent, cobalt blue colour.

Date: Circa 1st-3rd Century AD
Provenance: Ex major S.M collection, London, 1970-2010
Condition: Extremely fine, rare and exceptional artefact.

SOLD

SKU: CS-130 Category: Tag:

Unguentaria were amongst the most common objects of Roman blown glass: produced in large numbers, they were items of everyday use for keeping expensive unguents and cosmetic oils. By the 1st century AD, the technique of glass-blowing had revolutionised the art of glass-making. The new technique allowed craftsmen to use smaller amounts of glass for each vessel and obtain much thinner walls, so enabling the creation of small medicine, incense, and perfume containers in new forms. The small body and mouth allowed the user to carefully pour and control the amount of liquid dispensed, and glass was the material of choice for storing the oils because it was not porous. Originally, much of Roman glass vessels were modelled in bluish-green translucent colour, which resulted from the iron oxide present in the silica or the sand. However other metal oxides were added to the glass to give it different bright colours; in the case of this beautiful example, cobalt would have been added to the glass to create an intense royal blue colouration.

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

Weight 12.2 g
Dimensions W 3 x H 7.2 cm
Culture

Glass

Region

Reference: For a similar item, The Penn Museum, item number MS5007