This glass vessel is forged with such technique
and skill that modern hands would find it
impossible to duplicate. For a fleeting instant of
a generation or two, it graced the table or
mantelpiece of an opulent eastern aristocrat
within the Roman empire, for surely in a world
that valued glass over gold, none but the
wealthiest and most tasteful would posses a
piece of this quality. Then, by fire, by flood, or
perhaps by deliberate placement to keep it from
falling into the hands of thieves or bandits- this
piece of fragile glass ended up in the earth for
two thousand years. As it sat, the lustrous
transparency through which one could see the
amber of oil or violet of wine began to garner the
colors of the earth around it. The vessel
darkened into a more permanent and richer
violet, and the interplay of glass with dust
brought forth patches of glowing iridescence.
Now, running our hands across the surface of
this glass, we see in its bold shape and deliberate
execution, a work of human genius that has
withstood the rigors of two millennia, and done
so in the most frail and delicate of mediums. It
entices us with its beauty and the allure of its
romantic existence, and reminds us that at one
point in our history, the quality and beauty of a
single piece of glass was important enough to
merit such loving and laborious craftsmanship.
- (X.0611)
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