Glass bowl in blue and colorless bands

Translucent cobalt blue and colorless.

Plain rounded rim; slightly convex side tapering diagonally downward; convex bottom.

Two large segments of blue fused to either side of a broad central strip of colorless glass. On interior, a band below rim, comprising a narrow horizontal groove and a ridge, undercut below, and further down side a broader band comprising a narrow groove, followed below by a broader groove, a central slightly raised plain band, undercut below, and finally another narrow groove.

Broken and repaired, with several large areas missing, especially on rim and bottom; pinprick bubbles; dulling, pitting, and iridescent creamy weathering.

Rotary grinding marks on interior and exterior.

Very few bicolored glass vessels survive from antiquity. Apart from this bowl, most examples are slender alabastra (perfume vases). All appear to be in the same combination of translucent cobalt blue and colorless glass, and it is likely that they were all made in the same workshop. The glass was fused, placed over a mold, ground, and then polished.