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Lot 290

A Crucible containing melted glass
probably Persia, 10th/13th Century

29 April 2004, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £16,730 inc. premium

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A Crucible containing melted glass
probably Persia, 10th/13th Century

irregular ceramic container with straight vertical walls and a flat bottom covered on all surfaces with yellowish-green, olive-green, green and light amber-coloured glass that is now badly cracked
27 cm. max. diam.; 11.5 cm. max. high

Footnotes

Complete ceramic crucibles or pots used for melting glass or cullet in furnaces for use by glass-blowers are rare and difficult to date. The glass in this example is all naturally coloured, the greenish hues due to the presence of iron impurities in the original sand. While the presence of different colours could indicate that is was used several times, it could also suggest that is was used to melt down cullet of different colours that were not properly mixed together before the accident in the furnace which caused all the surfaces to be covered with melted glass and the object to be discarded.

Additional information