This monochrome bowl has evenly spaced ribs radiating around lower portion of the bowl. The pale bluish-green color of the bowl occured naturally, as the result of iron and other oxides in the sand, one of the essential components used in making glass.
Initially affordable among only the wealthy, glass was used widely in the Roman world to create a variety of everyday objects such as those displayed here, including delicate cosmetic containers that held perfumes and oils and various forms of tableware designed for serving food and drink. Glass was also used to imitate precious stones in jewelry.
Date
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Wanda Odell, “Ancient Glass: The Mr. and Mrs. Theodore W. Robinson Collection, Gallery 5A, The Art Institute of Chicago,” 1940, unpublished catalogue in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
Kurt T. Luckner, Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol. 20, no. 1 (1994), cat. no. 61, p. 83 (ill. p. 86).
Karen B. Alexander and Mary Greuel. Private Taste in Ancient Rome: Selections from Chicago Collections. Exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1990), cat. 75.
Sidney Goldstein, “Cats. 75-77 Three Early Drinking Bowls: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
Sidney Goldstein, “Cat. 77 Bowl: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Glass, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore W. Robinson Collection, June 28, 1940 –January 1, 1941.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Case for Wine: From King Tut to Today, Regenstein Hall, July 11 – September 20, 2009.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 152, November 11, 2012 - present.
Said to be found in Galilee, 1914; Azeez Khayat (1875-1943), New York City; sold to Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson, Chicago, 1924; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1949.
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