Ribbed bowl made of green mosaic glass

The bowl made of colored mosaic glass was discovered in the 1960s in the remains of a Roman grave in Neuss-Norf. It is one of the largest mosaic glass bowls ever found north of the Alps and probably came from a Roman glassworks in Italy. It was traded until it reached the ancient Novaesium, which was one of the cultural centers in the Rhineland at the beginning of the Roman period. Glass vessels were mainly used as fine table ware for festive occasions. Glass containers were also used to store ointments and cosmetics. The technique of glassblowing was developed by Roman craftsmen in the first century BC. Soon glass became a widespread – if costly – product here. Later the Romans established glassworks in the Rhineland – in Cologne and in Hambach Forest among others. But those workshops are believed to have produced only a small fraction of the glassware found in Neuss.