148 - A ROMAN OLIVE-GREEN MOLD-BLOWN GLASS PILGRIM FLASK, CIRCA 1ST–2ND CENTURY AD

A ROMAN OLIVE-GREEN MOLD-BLOWN GLASS PILGRIM FLASK, CIRCA 1ST–2ND CENTURY AD Superbly crafted, the slightly flattened globular body rising from a concave base to a slender neck and narrow circular mouth with a broad projecting rim, the shoulder set with an upright straight handle. Each flattened side of the body is decorated in relief with a central rosette, framed by raised circular motifs and dotted spirals. Provenance: Marvin Kagan Art, New York, by 1987. Collection of Sylvan and Joan Schefler, New York, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of the invoice from Marvin Kagan Art, dated 9 November 1987, addressed to Sylvan Schefler, describing the present lot as Byzantine and dating it 6th-7th century AD, accompanies this lot. Marvin Kagan was a New York-based art and antiques dealer whose career spanned several decades of the late twentieth century. Initially known for his specialization in antique rugs and tapestries, Kagan operated a gallery on Madison Avenue and developed a clientele among collectors, decorators, and institutions. By the 1980s, he was also active in the field of ancient art, including Roman glass, marble sculpture, and other antiquities. Objects formerly sold by his gallery have subsequently appeared in major private collections and in the provenance records of leading international auction houses, including Christie’s and Bonhams. Sylvan Schefler (1938-2025), born in Belgium and later emigrating to the United States during the Second World War, assembled a carefully curated collection of ancient glass together with his wife Joan, primarily during the 1980s and 1990s, a period marked by a renewed interest in ancient and particularly Roman glass. Over the course of several decades, the couple selectively acquired individual pieces, including works from important historic collections that were returning to the market at the time, among them the Constable-Maxwell Collection (1979), the collections of Ernst Kofler and Marthe Truniger (1985), Benzian (1994), and Giorgio Sangiorgi (1999), who had assembled his collection during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, largely from pieces discovered in Rome. The resulting collection offered a compelling insight into the use and appreciation of glass in antiquity, as well as its enduring appeal to modern collectors. Condition: Superb condition, with expected wear, manufacturing irregularities, traces of handling and use, and a few small fissures around the neck and handle. Given the inherent fragility of juglets of this type and age, the substantially intact state of preservation of the present example makes it a notably rare survival. Weight: 60.6 g Dimensions: Height 9.8 cm Core-formed and cast glass vessels were first produced in Egypt and Mesopotamia as early as the fifteenth century BC, but only began to be imported and, to a lesser extent, made on the Italian peninsula in the mid-first millennium BC. By the time of the Roman Republic (509-27 BC), such vessels, used as tableware or as containers for expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines, were common in Etruria (modern Tuscany) and Magna Graecia (areas of southern Italy including modern Campania, Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily). Rome’s emergence as the dominant political, military, and economic power in the Mediterranean world was a major factor in attracting skilled craftsmen to set up workshops in the city, but equally important was the fact that the establishment of the Roman industry roughly coincided with the invention of glassblowing. This invention revolutionized ancient glass production, putting it on a par with the other major industries, such as pottery and metalware. Glassblowing allowed craftsmen to make a much greater variety of shapes than before. Combined with the inherent attractiveness of glass—it is nonporous, translucent (if not transparent), and odorless—this adaptability encouraged people to change their tastes and habits, so that, for example, glass drinking cups rapidly supplanted pottery equivalents. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s London, 17 December 2020, lot 6 Price: GBP 8,820 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A Roman pale blue mold-blown glass flask, circa 1st century AD Expert remark: Compare the related form, molding, and decoration. Note the similar size (8.3 cm). Due to length restriction on Drouot this entry is shortened. For full description please visit www.zacke.at.