ROMAN GLASS BOTTLE

Ca. 100-300 AD A beautiful glass bottle with a long, cylindrical body displaying six vertical grooves, a short, flared neck and a wide everted dark green rim. Good condition; some encrustation.In antiquity, merchants and traders routinely packed, shipped, and sold all manner of foodstuffs and other goods across the Mediterranean in glass bottles and jars of all shapes and sizes, supplying Rome with a great variety of exotic materials from far-off parts of the empire. However, the shape and exquisite quality of this bottle lead to interpret it as a household item.By the Late Roman period, good quality glass vessels such as this one could be regarded as an indicator of social standing or wealth within the Late Roman household, especially when displayed in the public area of the house (Bayley et al 2015, 135).To find out more about glass in the Roman world, see:Bayley, J., Freestone, I., & Jackson, C. (2015). Glass of the Roman World. Oxford And Philadelphia: Oxbow Books. Size: L:190mm / W:85mm ; 108g Provenance: Property of an Oxfordshire art professional; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK / International art markets.