CIRCA 3RD CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN YELLOW GLASS SNAKE-THREAD SPRINKLER FLASK
CIRCA 3RD CENTURY A.D.
2 5⁄8 in. (6.6 cm.) high

Provenance

Ernst (1899-1989) and Marthe (1918-1999) Kofler-Truniger, Lucerne, acquired by 1981.
Ancient Glass Formerly in the Kofler-Truniger Collection, Christie's, London, 5-6 March 1985, lot 72.
Jack (1930-1996) and Jane (1936-2021) Weprin, New York, acquired from the above; thence by descent to the current owner.

Literature

M. Kunz, ed., 3000 Jahre Glaskunst: von der Antike bis zum Jugendstil, Luzern, 1981, p. 108, no. 422.

Exhibited

Kunstmuseum Luzern, 3000 Jahre Glaskunst: von der Antike bis zum Jugendstil, 19 July-13 September 1981.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The decoration seen here is termed "snake-thread” because of the serpentine manner in which the trails wander over the surface to create an abstract design. Current scholarly opinion suggests this technique originated in the eastern Mediterranean and quickly spread to the West (D.B. Harden, "Snake Thread Glass Found in the East," in The Journal of Roman Studies 24, pp. 50-54). The shape and color of the example presented here suggests an eastern origin. For a similar example now in the Corning Museum of Glass, see no. 62 in D.B. Harden, et al., Glass of the Caesars.

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