archaicwonder:Roman Gold Rimmed Rock Crystal Amphora, 1st-3rd Century ADA rock crystal vessel with f
archaicwonder:Roman Gold Rimmed Rock Crystal Amphora, 1st-3rd Century ADA rock crystal vessel with faceted sidewall, chamfered shoulder, conical finial, two lateral right-angled handles; circular rim with applied gold sheath. 138 grams, 82mm (3 ¼")Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, mentions a number of sources for rock crystal, such as Asia Minor, Cyprus, Portugal and the Alps, though he states the best came from India. The stone was fashioned into vessels in Bronze Age Greece as well as Cyprus, Asia Minor, Egypt and Mesopotamia. The use of rock crystal for vessels fell out of fashion in Classical Greece but was revived in the Hellenistic period where it was associated with the wealthy elite in such cities as Alexandria and Antioch.In the Roman Empire rock crystal was highly valued and according to Pliny, Livia, the wife of Augustus, dedicated a block weighing one hundred and fifty pounds on the Capitol; he also mentions a wealthy Roman woman paying one hundred and fifty thousand sestertii for a single rock crystal dipper. Suetonius mentions that Nero had two crystal cups carved with Homeric scenes that he broke when he received the news that the Senate had called for his execution. The high value placed by the Romans on rock crystal can be seen in the high degree of carving that the surviving pieces have, and their relative rarity compared to other stone vessels. -- source link