A beautiful ancient Roman bottle, blown from translucent glass. The vessel features a wide globular body that flows into a short cylindrical neck with a flattened everted rim. The vessel sits on a flattened base with a concave middle. There is a beautiful silver iridescence to the bottle. Earthy encrustations cover a significant portion of the vessel, consistent with the age of the item. A stable crack runs down the length of the neck on one side. The invention of glass-blowing revolutionised the art of glass-making in the 1st century BC. The new technique allowed craftsmen to use smaller amounts of glass for each vessel and obtain much thinner walls, so enabling the creation of a variety of glass containers in new forms. Different minerals were added to create a variety of colours. Bottles such as this fine example would have stored cosmetics or drinking products, and were used by households and merchants across the Roman Empire. The iridescence on ancient Roman glass was unintentional, and was caused by weathering on its surface. The extent to which a glass object weathers depends mainly on the burial conditions; however, the humidity, heat, and type of soil in which the glass was buried also all affect its preservation. Measurements: Circa H 8cm x W 7cm Provenance: From the collection of a London gentleman, bought 1970s and by descent.