Object Description
An elegant Ancient Roman blown glass flask, featuring an elongated pyriform body leading to a long cylindrical neck and a wide flaring rim. One applied handle extends from the rim to the shoulder. Further decorative details include a thick, trailed rod of glass around the neck. The glass surface is almost completely covered in a dark brown encrustation, with only few spaces left in which the bright yellow coloured glass appears, enriched by a mesmerising shiny iridescence.
The iridescence which forms on glass is caused by weathering on the surface of the vessel. How much iridescence is affected by a number of factors, including the humidity and type of soil and to an extent, the composition of the glass itself. Thin layers of weathered glass accumulate and then disperse, sometimes by flaking off, and display a refraction of light.
Date: Circa 1st-3rd Century BC
Provenance: Private Israel collection, SM. Israeli export license for the glass collection.