Roman Cinerary Urn

A pear-like shape with a flared rim featuring a softly chamfered upper edge and a concave base, this object comes with a lid. The lid itself has a beveled rim, a gently curved upper surface that ascends to a central dome, and a cylindrical handle adorned with piecrust pleats. The surfaces of both the object and the lid exhibit an iridescent sheen.

Footnotes

A similar jar discovered in Warwick Square, London, within a lead container, was originally filled with bone ashes. Romans often repurposed glass jars, originally designed for liquids and food storage, as containers for cremated remains. However, this particular jar appears too delicate and was likely specially crafted for this purpose. The presence of the lead canister, found alongside the jar in London, served to protect both the glass jar and the cremated bones.

Georgio Sangiorgi stands as a prominent figure in the realm of ancient glass collecting. Operating from the Galleria Sangiorgi in the Palazzo Borghese, Sangiorgi amassed an outstanding collection of ancient glass, dedicated to acquiring only the finest specimens.

References

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 81.10.8, for similar; cf. a very similar example with lid, discovered in the Conjunto Arqueológico de Carmona, Carmona (Sevilla), Spain, in Boletín del Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid, IX,1991, figs.1-14; cf. The British Museum, museum number 1993,0102.11, for similar; cf. The Corning Museum of Glass, accession number 70.1.44, for similar. cf. also Metropolitan Museum of Art Twelfth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Association for eight months ending December 31, New York, 1881, pp.215-216.