ROMAN GLASS PHIALE WITH FLORAL PATTERN
Ca. 100-300 AD.
A rare, yellow-green coloured glass dish with a folded broad rim. The interior surface is plain whilst the outside is decorated with a floral pattern radiating from the centre of the base. Good condition. By the Late Roman period (4th-5th century AD), good quality glass tableware such as this one - which were kept in the dining/reception rooms or the entrance room of a house - were less common and could have been used as a showpiece and perhaps even as a status symbol, suggesting that glass vessels played an important role in late Antique dining and society. For more information, see Bayley, J., Freestone, I., & Jackson, C. (2015). Glass of the Roman World. Oxford And Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 88; 135.
Size: L:60mm / W:200mm; 247g
Provenance: From the private collection of Mr. R. Unger; previously with a London gallery; acquired in the 1990s on the UK art market.
Estimate: GBP 750 - 1500