
A side view of the ancient glass bowl. (Click on image to enlarge).

The bowl from the front (click to enlarge).
An astonishing survivor – a glass Achaemenid bowl from the ancient Persian Empire, c 5th-early 4th century B.C. made £481,250 at Bonhams sale of antiquities in London on May 1 over an estimate of £30,000-50,000. It came from an English private collection.
There is a similar bowl in the Hermitage collection in St. Petersburg, Russia. The largest collection of Persian glass known was recovered between 1931 and 1934 from the palace treasury at Persepolis, the royal residence destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. It consists of 24 pieces. These luxury vessels, made in the finest quality colourless glass, derived their forms from Achaemenid silver and bronze pieces, specially made in imitation of highly prized rock crystal.
Madeleine Perridge, Head of Antiquities at Bonhams, commented: “The price achieved for this wonderful ancient glass bowl is a result of its incredible rarity, excellent condition, and its great provenance from a private collection. There was a great deal of interest in it from around the world.”