CIRCA LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C.- MID 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Mosaic glass was first created in the Hellenistic East during the 3rd-2nd centuries B.C. The gradual incorporation of the Hellenistic states into the Roman Empire, culminating in Octavian's victory over Antony and Cleopatra of Egypt in 31 B.C., fueled the Roman demand for Greek luxury products and led to the development of the great Roman glass industry that flourished during the Age of Augustus and beyond (see p. 241 in Grose, Early Ancient Glass, The Toledo Museum of Art). This new demand inspired Eastern glassmakers to establish workshops in Italy, presumably in Rome and elsewhere. One of the new creations of this Augustan tradition was the mosaic glass ribbed bowl, adapted from the monochrome bowls of the late Hellenistic Period. These are most commonly found in Italy or the western provinces, and so are thought to be a specialty of Romano-Italian glasshouses (see Grose, op. cit., p. 247). The type was also exported into non-Roman Germany and central Europe (see Harden, et al., Glass of the Caesars, p. 51).

For similar examples, see one in Corning, also from the Smith Collection, no. 501 in Goldstein, Pre-Roman and Early Roman Glass, and one from the Oppenländer Collection, no. 93 in von Saldern, et al., Gläser der Antike. For another found at Radnage, Buckinghamshire, England, now in the British Museum, see no. 27 in Harden, op. cit. For a bowl with a violet ground but otherwise similar, found in Kertch and now in St. Petersburg, see no. 93 in. Kunina, Ancient Glass in the Hermitage Collection.