105
Bowl
Alexandria; 1st c. BC

This well preserved, highly polished dish is of the highest quality and was made in one of the Alexandrian workshops which began to flourish soon after the city was founded in 332 BC. The master craftsmen of Alexandria achieved the production of transparent glass by cleaning it with manganese and in this way very many works of great beauty and technical perfection were achieved.

This bowl is an excellent example of their best work which flourished most vigorously from the 1st c. BC to the 1st AD. The highly polished surface allows the bright play of light. There is an almost identical bowl in the New York Metropolitan Museum.