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Rare Roman Glass Marbled Unguentarium
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Item Number: CA-09-147
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Roman unguentarium of amber-yellow glass with opaque milk-white trailing that has been marvered flush with the vessel's surface. The vessel's body is spherical with a slightly concave flattened base without a pontil mark, a tubular neck tapering towards the top, and a rim that folds outward and has been rounded and thickened at the edge. From the base to the rim runs a white spiral trail that makes multiple revolutions and has been dragged up and down six or seven times to create a festoon pattern. The vessel has been expertly reassembled from a few large fragments; very stable and otherwise intact.
PROVENANCE: Formerly in a Welsh private collection formed between the 1970s and 2008.
PUBLISHED: Bonhams, London, ANTIQUITIES, 29 April, 2009, Lot #302, listed and illustrated on Page 174.
SPECIAL NOTES: Most early Roman blown glass vessels, such as this example, have pear shaped bodies and continue to use the strong color contrasts of earlier core formed glass. As blown glass became more common and cheaper these strong colors were replaced by simple clear glass, of which many examples are available on our website.
COMPARISONS: E. Marianne Stern, Roman, Byzantine and Early Medieval Glass, 10 BCE-700 CE, Ernesto Wolf Collection, 2001, Cat. Numbers 2, 3 & 4 for closely related examples. Also, Yael Israeli, Wonders of Ancient Glass at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1998, page 26 for several related examples.
Item #CA-09-147 |
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