Greek, Hellenistic, 1st century B.C.

Glass

H: 14.3 cm

PROVENANCE: Acquired on the European art market in 1994

SERIAL NO: 3392

The body wound with yellow and white marvered festoon threads, with spiral bands wound around the neck and white spirals around the base, with twin translucent green glass applied handles, is on a knob foot. The surface has gold, purple and silver iridescence.

The core-forming technique of glass manufacture consists of building up a core of removable material – probably a mixture of clay, mud, sand and an organic binder – around a metal rod. The core is then covered with molten glass, either by dipping or by trailing a thread of glass over the core as it is rotated. The vessel is repeatedly reheated and marvered, or rolled, on a flat stone slab. Decoration in the form of glass threads is then trailed on and pressed into the surface by marvering, usually after being combed or dragged with a metal pin or hook into a zigzag, feather, or other pattern. The metal rod is subsequently removed and the vessel is annealed. After the core is scraped out, the rim, handles, and base-knobs are applied after further reheating.