MINIATURE ROMAN JUG

MINIATURE JUG of  Hans van Rossum

MINIATURE ROMAN JUG

CLOSE-UP OF MINIATURE ROMAN JUG

3rd – 4th century AD | Eastern Mediterranean

Size↑6.4 cm | Rim 3.0 ø cm, max 2.3 ø cm | Weight 15 g

Technique: free blown, handle and coils applied, tooled

Description: Translucent cobalt blue glass, biconical body. Cylindrical neck with constriction at the junction with the body. Fire-polished, out-splayed rim; heavy glass coil ring applied at the exterior of rim. Base made of a compact heavy coil ring. Angularhandle of pale green glass, applied on edge body/shoulder, drawn up and attachedto rim, making a thumb-rest. No pontil scar.

Condition Intact: silvery iridescence
Remarks: Remarkable is the certain tradition in which the glass blower produced these miniature flasks during the 3rd – 4th century AD. The combination of the glass colors; cobalt blue for the body and pale green for the handle. The way in which he made the base of a simple glass coil. (See HVR 136, p. 255)

Provenance: Ancient Recourse LLC, Montrose CA, USA, auction 19 July 2015 lot 16
Ex Donald Brown Collection, Boston – USA, formed in the 1960s

Reference: Schitterend Glas, R. Halbertsma p. 7, comparable miniature vessels
Archaeological Museum Pula, Croatia for a collection of miniature vessels
Fire and Sand, Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum, A. Antonaras catno. 413

SQUAT CARINATED ROMAN BOTTLE

SQUAT CARINATED ROMAN BOTTLE of  Hans van Rossum

ROMAN SQUAT CARINATED BLUE BOTTLE

Bottom view of blue bottle

Top view of bottle

1st century AD | Eastern Mediterranean, said to be found in Jerusalem

Size↑8.9 cm | ø 6.6 cm | Weight 30 g

Technique: free blown, opaque thread applied; tooled

Description: Transparent cobalt blue glass, squat, carinated body; long cylindrical neck, flaring mouth and rim folded outward. Rounded base, no pontil. The body decorated with a white opaque thread attached with a blob to the lower part of the neck wound clockwise, in numerous revolutions around the body and ending in a spiral on the rounded base. The thread is applied to the body before blowing the bottle. The bottom part of the carinated body is marvered to form the squat shape.
Condition Intact, perfect condition; slightly incrustation

Remarks: The carinated form of the body is exceedingly rare for a bottle with thread decoration. This shape was more common for early first century blown marbled examples. The result of applying the thin thread around the body before blowing it to the present shape is amazing. It looks like a design made fully automatical, by a machine.

Provenance: Ex private collection USA, 1967-2015, Archaeological Shop Tel Aviv Hilton, Tel Aviv-Israel, December 1967

Reference: Christie’s London, auction 3 July 1996 lot 366 for a striking identical example in blue, auction 11 December 1996 lot 4 for a striking identical example in purple
Ancient Glass in the Yale University Art Gallery, S. B. Matheson no. 75 for an example in purple
Antikes Glas, Sammlung Morell, B. Haas-Gebhard & R. Gebhard no. M170 for an example in purple
The Constable-Maxwell Collection of Ancient Glass, Sotheby’s 5 June 1979 lot 85 for an example in almost colorless glass.
Les Verres Antiques du Musée du Louvre, V. Arveiller-Dulong & M-D. Nenna no. 828 for an example in blue