LOT 0174

Large Roman Rhenish Type Snake-Thread Goblet from a Workshop in Cologne

CIRCA LATE 2ND-EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.

6 7/8 in. (87 grams, 17.4 cm).

Comprising an ovoid body with trumpet-shaped foot and rounded everted rim; applied 'snake-tread' detailing in swept curves and undulating waves; applied thread collar below rim.

Private collection, Europe, 1970s.
with Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, USA (The Muse's Song, 2008, no.75).
The Nico F Bijnsdorp collection (NFB 241), acquired from the above 2 October 2009.
with Bonhams, London, 6 July 2023, no.159.
From a London, UK, collection.

Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Bonham's catalogue page.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13526-261500.

Cf. Rothenhöfer, P., die Wirtschaftsstrukturen im südlichen Niedergermanien. Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung eines Wirtschaftsraumes an der Peripherie des Imperium Romanum. Kölner Studien zur Archäologie der Römischen Provinzen, Bd. 7, Rhaden/Westf., 2005, pp. 163-173; Harden, D., Glass of the Caesars, London, 1987, pp.105-8, 130-139, for discussion and glass items with similar decoration; see also Fremersdorf, F., Römische Gläser mit Fadenauflage in Köln, Cologne, 1959.

The so-called ‘snake-thread’ trail was applied to the faces of the vessel and was originally manufactured in workshops in Cologne from about the middle of the 2nd century onwards. A great variety of glass objects with quite similar decoration are on display in the Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln. Roman Cologne was an important production centre for glass, especially for translucent vessels decorated with colourful snake-threads.