CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

This skyphos is an exceptionally rare survival from the Roman period. Engraved obsidian vessels are mainly known from fragments, however the unusual stippled decoration on this skyphos are without parallel. For an engraved fragment of a plate dating to the same period, cf. S. M. Goldstein, Pre-Roman and Early Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, New York, 1979, p. 285, no. 858. For a larger obsidian cup with Egyptianizing inlay see fig. 9.5, p. 284 in S. Walker and P. Higgs eds., Cleopatra of Egypt, from History to Myth, London, 2001. For an undecorated skyphos cf. Christie's, New York, 5 & 6 December 2001, lot 626.