Roman Glass Inkwell

Roman ca. 100 to 350 CE. A wonderful glass inkwell in thick green glass. Circular form with 4 small lugs at the shoulder, raised glass rim emerging from the center. This glass has developed a most intense rainbow iridescence.

Although inkwells are unlikely to be the first objects that spring to mind when you think about the rich corpus of Roman artefacts, they do survive in considerable numbers. Roman inkwells were usually made from copper-alloy or clay (inkwells displaying the fashionable red hues of Samian ware are especially common), but glass, lead, and silver versions were also available for those with a generous stationery budget.