Glass bowl and flagon

Roman Britain, 1st century AD
Found in Radnage, Buckinghamshire

Elegant glass tableware from Roman Britain

The tall flagon in amber-coloured glass and the blue-and-white bowl were found in a grave dating to the first century AD. The grave also contained samian ware pottery and bronze decorative mounts from a wooden casket.

'Pillar-moulded' bowls with raised external ribs were popular in the first century. They were probably made in Italy and exported to the provinces. Naturally-coloured blue-green glass were most common, while examples in dark colours, or with multi-coloured patterns, like this one in deep blue with opaque white marbling, would have been more expensive. The dark blue colour was itself much admired in antiquity, just as it has been in glassware of recent periods.

T.W. Potter, Roman Britain, 2nd edition (London, The British Museum Press, 1997)