Vial
Medium
Decorative Arts-Glass
Classification
Decorative Arts-Glass
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly
Accession Number
1929.8.147.19
About this artwork
Most of the glass vessels in this case date from the first century BC to the fourth century AD. Early glass vessels were made in the Middle East and Egypt using the core-forming technique, in which molten glass was poured over a clay core and decorated with threads of colored glass. During the first century AD, Rome became the center of glassmaking, and the invention of blown glass led to new methods, including free-blown glass, which could be decorated by pinching, rolling, or dragging the surf...
About the Artist
Unidentified ( ) · –