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Lot 11*

A Roman amber glass date flask

Antiquities
6 July 2021, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £3,187.50 inc. premium

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A Roman amber glass date flask
Circa 1st-early 2nd Century A.D.
The body blown into a two-part mould to resemble the wrinkly skin of the fruit, with opaque white glass on the interior of the mouth, with short cylindrical neck and a partially flared rim, 6.5cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
with Merrin Gallery, New York.
Private collection, USA, acquired from the above 18 February 1992.

It is suggested that such bottles may have held scented oils or medicines. Apicius II and Pliny mention the date fruit being used both in cooking and as a medicinal ingredient. Its form symbolises sweetness and these bottles may also have served as funerary offerings as they have been found in tombs of women and girls. For a full discussion on the technique, date, distribution, function and interpretation of date-flasks, see E. Marianne Stern, The Toledo Museum of Art, Roman Mold-blown Glass, the First through the Sixth Centuries, Toledo, 1995, pp. 91-4, 172-80, nos. 84-107.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

An Anatolian marble idol
A Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone with dedication inscription of King Lipit-Ishtar of Isin
A small Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone inscribed for King Sin-Kashid of Uruk
A Neo-Assyrian or Neo-Hittite bronze helmet with pelta-shaped cheek-pieces
A Babylonian agate "eye-stone" bead, inscribed for Nebuchadnezzar II
A large Etruscan Impasto Ware pottery olla
A Roman marble torso of a youth wearing a tunic
A Roman marble head of a satyr
An Attic pottery tankard with geometric decoration
A Greek bronze horse
A Greek pottery alabastron in the form of a greaved leg
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