A Roman Glass Double Balsamarium with Applied Handles, ca. 4th century CE

Acquired in Phoenicia (Lebanon), a double green glass flask with glass thread trailed horizontally around the middle of the body.  Four fragments of the applied handles remain attached; two on either side of the mouth and two emerging a little way down the body.  Smithsonian museum number 299750 applied in black paint to the body.

Reference: Hayes J. W. Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto, 1975. Susan H. Auth "Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum from the Eugene Schaefer collection" (1976). 

Published: McGovern-Huffman, S. "Magical, Mystical Roman Glass, the Lenman/Stohlman Collection of Ancient Roman Glass" (2012) pg 63.
 
Dimensions: Height: 4 1/2 inches (11.5 centimeters) 

Condition:  There is fragile iridescence on the outside and inside, much of the inside is covered with a light layer of iridescence and dirt.  Most of both handles have been lost and small sections of the trailed decoration are also missing.  Otherwise intact, with museum-quality custom mount.

Provenance: Forming part of the Lenman/Stohlman collection assembled by the Washington D.C. socialite Miss Isobel H. Lenman (1845 - 1931), in the early 1900’s. Loaned and accessioned by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., between 1916 and 1921 where it was exhibited until her death in 1931. Thereafter, the collection was returned to her heirs and sold around 1937 to Dr. Martin Stohlman, remaining with the Stohlman family until 2011. 

Exhibited:  Workhouse Art Center, Virginia, Glass National 2016, October, 2016- January 2017.