Hellenistic Core-Formed Glass Alabastron Base | Feathered Trail Decoration

Eastern Mediterranean, Greek, Hellenistic period. portion of a core-formed glass vessel, likely an alabastron, made before the invention of glassblowing. Opaque cobalt glass forms the body, wrapped with pale yellow and white trails that were marvered flush and then dragged with a pointed tool into tight feathered festoons. The body narrows to a short neck and a wide disc rim of deep blue. Inside the neck, remnants of the original core are still visible. Such perfume and unguent flasks were formed around a friable core of clay and dung, which was scraped out once the glass had cooled. The lower body is lost below the break, and the piece is shown inverted, standing on its rim. Core forming is the oldest sustained glassworking technique, in use across the Eastern Mediterranean from the mid second millennium BCE and revived around the sixth century for small luxury containers of scented oil. A core of clay, sand, and organic binder was shaped on a metal rod, coated in molten glass by dipping or by winding hot trails, then decorated with contrasting threads that were rolled smooth on a flat stone (marvering) and combed into zigzags, festoons, or feather patterns while still plastic. Handles, rims, and feet were applied last. Scholars divide the tradition into three Mediterranean groups. Group I (roughly 6th to 4th century BCE) alabastra characteristically taper to a rounded or pointed base, sometimes with small lug handles. Group II, conventionally dated to the 4th through 1st centuries BCE, introduces the applied disc or splayed pad foot seen here, a change that let the vessel stand unaided on a table rather than rest in a stand or a hand. The wide foot on this fragment is the diagnostic feature placing it in the later, Hellenistic horizon. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 205133

Estimate:$225

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