This bowl can be compared to both Hellenistic and Roman stylistic traditions. Its shape and color are reminiscent of Hellenistic footed bowls, yet the quality and craftsmanship is also an early indication of the vessels that would be made in the Roman production of fine monochrome tablewares of the mid-first century A.D. This bowl was cast in one piece over a mold, and the base ring was tooled up from the solid blank of hot glass. This resulted in the ring's uneven shape. The bright honey-brown color is part of a repertoire of vivid colors favored by the Romans in the first century of their glass production, although these colors eventually went out of use in the late first century A.D., when colorless glass became the new standard of elegance.

Open full-size image