Roman Iridescent Glass Feeder Bottle

Ellipsoid in plan and biconvex in section with profile bust modelled in the half-round, with loop and suspension chain. 44 grams total, 50 mm (23 cm with chain)



Acquired on the German art market, 1989-1995. with The Museum Gallery, 19 Bury Place, London, WC1, UK, 1998-2003. Property of a London based academic, 2003 to present. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Round-section hoop with granule cluster to each shoulder, ellipsoid cell with inset sardonyx cabochon; one end of bezel and outer edge of hoop damaged. 2.45 grams, 20.32 mm overall, 11.79 x 16.35 mm internal diameter (approximate size British E 1/2, USA 2 1/2, Europe 3, Japan 3)



Private family collection, acquired in the 1980s. with Christie's, New York, Ancient Jewellery, 11 December 2003, no.506. Property of a European collection. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate, no.S00029664 This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Each with a hollow-formed crescentic hoop, piriform plaque with inset glass panel and granulated border, hollow-bulb cluster beneath with three applied piriform plaques and granule finial. 9.26 grams total, 37-38 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12393-226929. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

As a result of the expansion of the Roman Empire, jewellery became more and more elaborate in its designs and materials used, such as precious and semi-precious gemstones. This pair of earrings represent a highly baroque evolution of the boat-shaped type, already visible in Etruscan jewellery and certainly in Roman jewellery, as demonstrated by the excavations of Herculaneum. Using the body of the boat-shaped earrings, the late Imperial artist added decorative clusters and applications of pearled borders and precious stones, according to the taste of Eastern Hellenism rooted for centuries in the provinces of the Black Sea and Roman Asia.