Glass jars, such as this fine example, were extremely popular across the Roman Empire, used for storing an assortment of substances. Larger jars were used for storing wine or dry foods while smaller jars, much like this one, would have been used for storing cosmetics, balms, perfumes and medicines. The cosmetics would contain natural ingredients and therefore the vessels would have usually been sealed with a topper, to reduce the spoilage of the goods inside. After the introduction of glassblowing, jars were able to be manipulated into a variety of shapes and sizes, they were tailored to specific purposes such as narrow slender necks to help control the flow of liquids. Glass jars became an everyday container and were used by nearly every person in the Roman society.
To find out more about Ancient Roman glass please visit our relevant blog post: Ancient Roman Glass.
