Ancient Roman Blue Bell Unguentarium

£ 195.00

A beautiful Ancient Roman bell-bodied unguentarium in light blue glass and displaying attractive rainbow iridescence, with a short cylindrical neck showing tooling at the base and an everted rim. From the piece’s wide and slightly concave base, the body widens and subsequently narrows towards the thinnest point at the bottom of the neck, forming a bell shape.

Date: Circa 1st-3rd century AD
Condition: Very fine, intact, with earthy encrustations over the whole and a rainbow iridescence.

SOLD

Product Code: RGS-26
Category: Tag:

Glass was often the preferred material for storing expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines in antiquity because it was not porous. The small body and mouth allowed the user to carefully pour and control the amount of liquid dispensed. By the 1st century AD, the technique of glass-blowing had revolutionised the art of glass-making, allowing for the production of small medicine, incense, and perfume containers in new forms. Glass vessels are found frequently at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries, and the liquids, which filled them, would have been gathered from all corners of the expansive Roman Empire.

To discover more about the types and uses of unguentaria, please visit our relevant blog post: Roman Glass: Unguentaria and Cosmetics.

Dimensions W 6.8 x H 9 cm
Glass

Blown Glass

Region

Southern Europe

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