Roman Glass Bottle

$334.88

A Roman light blue glass bottle, all featuring piriform or globular body leading to long, narrow neck with a flat folded rim. The bottle sits on a hollowed flat base with a pyriform shaped body. The neck, featuring a light constriction at junction with the body, ends in an everted. This vessel features some iridescence to its surface, along with some earthly encrustations.

Date: Circa 1st Century AD
Condition: Very fine.

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Glass was often the preferred material for storing expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines because it was not porous. The small body and mouth allowed the user to carefully pour and control the amount of liquid dispensed. 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.These small glass bottles are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries, and the liquids which filled them would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire. 

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

Weight 68.8 g
Dimensions W 5.8 x H 13.3 cm
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Culture

Glass

Region

Reference: For a similar item, The Metropolitan Museum, item number 81.10.110

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