Roman Glass Unguentarium, Iridescent

Roman, Imperial period. Free-blown pale green translucent glass vessel with globular body, swelling from a rounded base to a short, constricted neck and an outward-folded, flaring rim. The body is decorated with spiraling ribbon trails formed during the blowing process. Surface exhibits silvery and iridescent weathering consistent with prolonged burial. Rolled lip at rim. No handles or applied decoration. Likely used for oils, unguents, or cosmetics in a Roman domestic context. Roman glassblowing, which emerged in the eastern Mediterranean during the first century BCE, transformed glass from a luxury rarity into an everyday material found across the Empire. Free-blown vessels like this jar could be produced quickly and in quantity, serving to store perfumes, medicines, and toilet preparations. The luminous iridescence prized by modern collectors is not original: it is the product of weathering, as moisture in the burial environment leaches alkalis from the glass and leaves behind microscopically thin, light-refracting layers. Item # 204053

Estimation:€267.83

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