LOT 0641

Hellenistic Ribbed Rock Crystal Bowl

3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.

3 1/4 in. (148 grams, 82 mm wide).

Of squat profile, with circumferential band of vertical ribbing to the exterior wall, broad flat rim incorporating two shallow lateral blocks, pierced vertically to accept a handle.

Acquired from Galerie Serres, Paris, before 1980.
Formerly in a French private collection.
H.B. collection since 2012.
Private collection, England.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12312-215584.

Glassmaking and glass-working were considered to be two separate crafts and took place in different regions during the Hellenistic period. Each craft was characterised by its own technological tradition, know-how and equipment. Glassmakers and glassworkers did not need to have an understanding of glass vessel manufacture and primary production respectively in order to carry out their tasks. Glassmaking had to take place as close as possible to the sources of the raw materials used, namely sand and mineral natron. Raw glass was traded throughout the Mediterranean in the form of ingots and it was then worked and shaped into vessels, inlays, jewellery, etc, in various locations. A lot of glass production took place on the Syro-Palestinian coast as well as the broader Levant and Egypt, with centres of manufacture in the royal capitals of Antioch and Alexandria. The reputation of the Alexandrian workshop is well-understood from luxury glass vessels decorated with Egyptian-style buildings or characteristic scenes found as far away as Italy and Afghanistan.