A ROMAN GLASS STIRRING ROD AND A ROMAN PALE BLUE GLASS SPOON

CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN GLASS STIRRING ROD AND A ROMAN PALE BLUE GLASS SPOON
CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
The rod with twisted shaft, with one end looped, and the other tapering to a duck finial, with a glass ring probably from the lid of an unguentarium, probably not belonging; and a Roman pale blue glass spoon, with long oval bowl and straight hollow handle, circa 2nd Century A.D.

9 5/8 in. (24.5 cm.) long and 8 ¼ in. (21.5 cm.) long respectively

Provenance

Item one: Plesch collection (AGm 24); acquired from C. Sheppard, London, January 1978.
Item two: Plesch collection (AGm 21); acquired from C. Sheppard, London, 12 March 1990.

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Lot Essay

Twisted glass rods were probably used for stirring or mixing cosmetic or medicinal preparations. This example is accompanied by a sliding glass ring, which is believed to have acted as a stopper or cover for the vessel into which the rod was dipped. For similar, cf. D. Whitehouse, Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, vol. III, Corning, 2003, pp. 52-3, no. 972.
The spoon would have been tooled from a single blown tube, examples can be found throughout the Roman period, cf. 'Glass Spoon', The Metropolitan Museum, no. 15.43.235.

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