Title: Facet-cut Spoon
Date: late 1st century AD
Location: possibly Eastern Roman Empire
Materials: colourless glass; cast, facet-cut and polished; the handle restored in resin
Dimensions: length 20.7cm (as restored); 8.5cm (original)
Accession Number: GLS 159
Other Notes:
The bowl of the spoon is plain inside and facet-cut with deep narrow ovals outside. The neck, rectangular in cross-section, arcs up sharply from the bowl as far as preserved.
Glass spoons were used in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ad and seem to have been manufactured in the East from the 2nd century onwards. They are based on metal, especially silver, prototypes. The facet-cut decoration on the exterior of the bowl might suggest that the spoon was used for serving.
Bibliography:
S.M. Goldstein et al, Glass. From Sasanian Antecedents to European Imitations, The Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XV, London 2005, cat.49, pp.58–9.
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