The shape is elegant, with a globular body supported by a circular foot with an elaborate profile, and a long cylindrical neck ending in a smooth rim. The handle is distinctive: at its end, it features a large triangular decorative element, which also provides a comfortable resting place for the thumb whilst pouring.
From the 2nd century AD onwards, the Romans tended to prefer glass vessels of a natural colour (transparent, slightly bluish or green) rather than bright hues, as had been the case at the very beginning of the Imperial period.
This small cup, which belonged to a famous collection of the 19th century, was mold-blown in a transparent glass with an originally bluish tinge.
Used as tableware, these small cups served as drinking vessels but would have also been intended to contain various substances: sauces, spices, other condiments, etc. Produced mainly between the early Flavian period and the early 2nd century A.D., they exist in different versions that vary in the color, in the type of glass, or in details of the shape (shape of the lip, more or less rounded body, etc.).
This blown glass bottle is transparent, but shows pale gray shades. The patina adds a beautiful polychromy ranging from gold to violet-blue, whose appearance depends on the light.
This core-formed bowl is simply decorated with lathe-cut grooves just below the lip. The base is slightly concave. Towards the end of the Hellenistic period, glass definitely supplanted clay as a raw material for the manufacture of containers in all areas of daily life. With versatility like no other known material in ancient times, abundant availability, lightness and ease of use, glass enabled the imitation of a wide range of other materials (precious metals especially), whether in the form, the design or the color.
