Loading, please wait...

Use mousewheel to zoom in and out, click to enlarge

Details

LOT 0701

Roman Square Green Glass Flask

6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

2 in. (34.7 grams, 49 mm).

With dimple to the underside, squat square body and wide everted rim.

Provenance

From an important London collection of glass, 1990s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

Cf. Whitehouse, D., Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol.2, New York, 2001, items 643-645, for type.

Footnotes

The object is certainly Late Roman in shape, although similar typologies did also exist in early Islamic glasswork. The bottle was probably blown into a flat mould to produce the ribs, then expanded and tooled to form the body.

CONDITION

VETTING:

TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process


AUCTIONS:

TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.

LOT 0701

Roman Square Green Glass Flask

Estimate £180 - 240€210 - 280 (for guidance only)$240 - 320 (for guidance only)

Print page

RELATED LOTS

  • Roman Bronze Bull Head Attachment
    Roman Bronze Bull Head Attachment
    1st-4th century A.D.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £26

    Modelled in the round with short horns and ears, circular socket extending from the back of the head to the beast's mouth. 23.5 grams, 25 mm



    Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

    Lot Details

  • Late Roman Imperial Porphyry Fragment
    Late Roman Imperial Porphyry Fragment
    4th-6th century A.D.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120

    Formed as an irregular block with three possibly later polished sides, with the other three sides presenting a descending wall and two hollows carved in the upper and lower part; probably from an Imperial sarcophagus or monument; mounted on a custom-made stand. 10.55 kg, 31 cm including stand



    Acquired from the private collection of a Somerset gentleman who was related to Sir Arthur Evans. From the private collection of a UK gentleman since before 2005.

    For the Romans, porphyry was the Imperial marble par excellence, and from Constantine the Great until the end of the 5th century, but probably also later, it was used to create sarcophagi for the emperors and members of the Imperial families. This particular stone was connected with the Imperial family because of its red colour, recalling the violet and red shades of the purple (porphyra), the precious colour assigned only to emperors and their relatives. In Constantinople, a room of the Imperial palace was called Porphýra, located on one of the palace terraces overlooking the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus. It was perfectly square in shape with a pyramidal ceiling and was entirely covered in purple porphyry speckled with white dots: this was the room where the empresses gave birth to the heir of the Roman Empire, called Porphyrogénnētos, meaning ‘born in the purple room’. Porphyry was widely used for building churches in the Christian Empire, and Justinian exhausted the supplies from Egypt by building the Great Church of Hagia Sophia, where still today a great amount of this material can be seen. The impressive Imperial sarcophagi were kept in the Church of the Holy Apostles, as well as the great porphyry sarcophagus of Constantine the Great, of which only a small fragment survives today in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul.

    Lot Details

  • Large Roman Bronze Vessel Handle with Conjoined Dolphins
    Large Roman Bronze Vessel Handle with Conjoined Dolphins
    2nd century A.D.

    Sold for (Inc. bp): £27

    Comprising a crescentic band with ribbed detailing of two opposed dolphins, each with a pierced P-shaped lug to the lower end; 55 grams, 11.3 cm



    Found Gloucestershire, UK.

    Lot Details

Stay up-to-date with the latest from TimeLine Auctions by joining our mailing list