Roman Emerald Green Unguentarium with Gold Iridescence
£ 300.00
A fine Ancient Roman blown glass unguentarium, displaying a beautiful deep emerald green shade, partially covered with a mesmerizing gold and silver iridescence. The shape is similar to that of the ‘cotton reel’ type, common to Roman Egypt.
Date: Circa 1st – 3rd Century AD Provenance: From a private Japanese collection, 1972-2010. Condition: Fine, complete and intact. Some earthy encrustation on the surface.
Glass was often the preferred material for storing expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines in antiquity because it was not porous. Glass vessels are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries, and the liquids that filled them would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire.
