This translucent glass bowl is an extraordinary example of early Roman glass working. Notice how the light picks out the separate sections of glass in purple, yellow, blue, and clear. The craftsman formed the shape of the bowl by pressing together these slices of glass in a casting mold. Afterwards, he fused on the decorative glass garlands. This is the only known, complete example from antiquity that shows both of these techniques—casting and fusing—on a single vessel.

This bowl’s rich colors and carefully made floral design testify to the splendid craftsmanship of Roman glass during the reign of Augustus—between 27 B.C. and 14 A.D. Rome had become a major center for luxury glassmaking because that is precisely where the market was! Glass became fashionable and highly desirable, and craftsmen designed especially lavish works for those who could afford them. The high society in Augustan Rome collected these luxury glass objects and displayed them in their homes as signs of their wealth and social status.