Flask c.AD1-500

This blown, iridescent decanter has miraculously survived the centuries and, along with Footed dish, shines a light on the history of glassmaking. The objects were made in Rome circa 1–500 CE, during a period in which glassblowing techniques acquired from artisans in the Syro-Palestinian region were perfected, revolutionising glass manufacture in Italy. Vessels such as these would have been used as tableware, or to hold medicine, perfumes and other emollients.

The opalescence of the pieces is thought to have resulted from chemical reactions with the soil in which they were buried for millennia — an effect later replicated by more contemporary practitioners.