Roman Candlestick Unguentarium

$189.56

An Ancient Roman candlestick unguentarium, finely blown from aqua coloured glass. The vessel, still showing some of its original translucency, features a folded out-splayed rim; a very tall, long neck, bending slightly to the side, merging into a bell-shaped body and a flattened base. Most of the item’s surface is covered by lime-earthly encrustations.

Date: Circa 2nd-3rd Century AD
Condition: Very fine. Lime-earth encrustation to most of the item’s surface.

SOLD

SKU: CS-312 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 carefully to pour and control the amount of liquid dispensed, and glass was the material of choice for storing the oils because it was not porous. These small glass bottles are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries, and the perfumes which filled them would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire.

To find out more about Roman glass please see our relevant blog post: Collecting Roman Glass.

Weight 15 g
Dimensions H 13.5 cm
Culture

Glass

Region

Reference: For a similar item, The Metropolitan Museum, item number 81.10.102

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