ROMAN GLASS CUP (ACETABULUM)

Acetabulum Cup from the Allaire Collection

Romans often drank a mixture of vinegar and water and had a special container for this called an acetabulum. This is from the Latin acetum (vinegar) and abulum the suffix denoting a small vessel.   Today the word is used only as a medical term to describe the cup-like shape in your hip that the thigh bone sits in. Usually made of pottery, some in the first Century, as in this example were made of glass and often found in Italian graves.

C: 6 cm

Date: First Century AD

cf: Whitehouse, 1997 #125

 

Small Roman Glass Cup 61R

Midwestern Aquamarine Swirl and Club Bottles

These are three examples of aquamarine swirled bottles and one aquamarine club bottle.  All have twenty four molded ribs which were swirled to the left or right, probably made in Zanesville Ohio.  The difference between the two types is on the club bottle the lower sides are straight and the flat bottom is therefore wider.   They are all about eight inches high and made between 1820 and 1840 and were re-usable bar bottles.  We think the most outstanding example is 58A because of its rich color and quality of the glass.  Which is your favorite?  Let us know.

15A Aquamarine swirl bottle

29A Aquamarine Club Bottle

58A Aquamarine swirl bottle

64A Aquamarine Swirled Bottle

Three Facon De Venise Wine Glasses from France

Three Facon De Venise Wine Glasses from France

left to right 68E,76E,77E French wine glasses

68E: is a small Facon de Venise goblet (verre de fougere – Fern Glass) was probably made in France. The glass is of straw tint with a pattern-molded bowl and an elongated inverted baluster hollow stem. H: 12.4 cm

76E: is a Facon de Venise wine goblet (verre de fougere – Fern Glass) was probably made in France. The glass has a straw tint and a conical pattern-molded bowl with a hollow stem.

77E: is a Facon de Venise wine goblet (verre de fougere – Fern Glass) was probably made France. The glass has a straw tint and a pattern-molded bowl on a hollow stem with faint diagonal ribs. H: 11 cm

Date for all: Early 18th Century

Ref: Beyond Venice page163, Rijksmuseum # 235,236, The Collection Engels-De Lange, Lameris # 58, The Van Beek Collection, Lameris, #37, 38

For more information on French fern glass see the essay by Anna Lameris in The Van Beek Collection, 2015 p 98-99

68E French Facon de Venise Wine, Early 18th Century

76E French Facon de Venise Wine, Early 18th Century

77E French Facon de Venise Wine, Early 18th Century

Roman Cup with Thumb Rest Handle

This light green bulbous cup has a single handle ending in a thumb rest at the rim.   A fine trail circles the neck and the rounded body has a flat base.

H: 9 cm

Third-Fourth Century

Picardie #305

62R Cup with Thumb Rest Handle

Roman Wheel-Cut Flask

A large flask in a bluish-green color has a globular body with a flattened base.  The straight cylindrical neck ends with a small inward-folded collar rim. The body is decorated with five wheel-cut bands of alternating widths.  A thin layer of iridescence is scattered over the piece. A tiny strain crack appears inside the neck, otherwise it is intact.  The bottle may be from Asia Minor modern Turkey.

H: 12.5 cm

Second-Third Century

Const. Max. # 125, Hayes 1975 # 146, Baracat # GF90,G04

Roman Wheel-Cut Flask 10R

Mold-Blown Perfume Bottle

This perfume dropper flask was blown into a two part mold with a distinct lattice pattern.  The globular body has a flattened base, short neck with a restriction where it meets the body and sharply flaring mouth. Just below the rim is a narrow folded flange. The brilliant iridescence of this piece greatly enhances its beauty.

H: 10 cm

Third-Fourth Century

Kofler coll. 1985 #45, Barakat # G30& G31,Hayes 1975 #280, Oliver 1980 # 206

9R Mold-Blown Perfume Bottle

Late Roman Bottle with Neck Ruffle

This bottle is olive green; the globular body has a flattened and indented base.  The tall neck has a slight constriction where it joins the body and is decorated with a ruffled collar.    The form may be from the crossover time between Roman and Islamic periods.

H: 11cm

Late Fifth or Sixth Century

Hayes 1975 #402 & 403, Oliver 1980 #203, Auth 1976 #118, A.P.C. #N-63, Glass from the Roman Empire, Paul E. Cuperus P. 34, Israeli Museum #431

Roman Unguentarium or Tear Bottle

Tear Bottle

 Unguentaria or “tear bottles” are among the most common containers found in Roman blown glass.  The example shown here has all of  the characteristics of this type of glass bottle. The deep blue-green color and lovely interior iridescence adds beauty to this common type.  It was thought to be used in the burial practices of ancient Romans.

H: 11.5 cm

Late First Century A.D.

Auth 1976 #134, Hayes 1975 # 663, Matheson1980 #80, Kofler Collections #124, Oliver 1980 #89

Tear Bottle 8R