Translucent deep blue glass, some small bubbles; impressed, slumped, lathe-cut and polished. Deep bowl, slightly flaring rim with rounded lip and shallow lathe-cut groove on interior; two additional lathe-cut grooves accent interior, just over halfway down; side bulges slightly before curving inward to bottom; underside slightly pushed up and uneven; exterior has 30 tapering ribs, which begin just below lip and terminate before center of base; tops of ribs cut and ground when rim was lathe-polished.

Among the earliest and most numerous types of glass produced by the Romans were cast monochrome vessels. In some stylistic and technical respects, Roman ribbed bowls are so similar to their Hellenistic precursors that the latter objects must have served as models for the former ones. Nevertheless, the Romans introduced some significant variations. They used brightly colored glasses, chiefly purple and blue. In addition, the ribs of these bowls are evenly spaced, producing symmetrical patterns. By the time of Augustus (r. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14), bowls of this type were used throughout the Mediterranean region, and they quickly spread to the northern provinces. They were also exported beyond the empire’s eastern frontier. They have been found in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Here is one of the largest known bowls from this period.