A 1,700-year-old Middle Eastern bowl set a new world record for glass sold at auction today when it went for £2,646,650 sterling (€5 million).
The bowl, known as the Constable-Maxwell Cage-Cup, is the size of two cupped hands and would have been filled with oil and suspended from the ceiling as a light.
The identity of the buyer was not revealed.
"It is a new world record for glass sold at auction," said a spokeswoman for Bonhams, the auctioneers.
Glass specialist Ms Joanna van der Lande said: "The most staggering thing to note about this is that it is all cut from one block of glass. The artistry and delicacy of the workmanship by someone working on the ancient Syrian coast in 300 AD would be hard to emulate today."
The bowl is intact except for a small piece missing from the filigree base.
