Piriform Bottle with Double Convex Wall

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Piriform Bottle with Double Convex Wall

Place of OriginCyprus, excavated by 1873

Date1st-2nd century CE

DimensionsGlass Dimensions: 2 13/16 × 7/8 × 2 in. (7.1 × 2.2 × 5.1 cm)

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1916.159

Not on View

DescriptionThis piriform bottle with a double convex wall is made of medium thin, transparent natural green glass with a dusky yellow-green tint (5 G 5/2). It was free-blown and tooled, with no evidence of a pontil mark. The body contains a few pinprick and small spherical bubbles. The rim is carefully folded outward, upward, inward, and flattened. A cylindrical neck, showing a slight tool mark at its base, transitions into a near-conical body that narrows at the center before flaring again, creating the characteristic double convex profile. The base is flattened. This vessel is related in shape to other double convex examples in the collection (e.g., 1923.1147, 1923.1148, 1916.162) and resembles bottles illustrated in Vessberg 1952 (pl. VII, nos. 28–29) and Hayes 1975 (no. 215, fig. 8; pl. 10). Further comparisons include examples published by Bagatti and Milik (Dominus Flevit), as well as Barag (1970), with a suggested date ranging from the second quarter to the end of the 1st century CE.

Label TextThis small object marks a formative moment in the Toledo Museum of Art’s “teenage years.” In 1916, the museum made a deliberate decision to collect Greek and Roman antiquities more systematically, acquiring a group of eighty-eight ceramic, bronze, and glass objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. All were excavated on Cyprus by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832–1904), the Met’s first president, and entered Toledo’s collection when the institution was still defining the scope of its antiquities holdings.

The bronze objects (1916.134–1916.149) reflect Cyprus’s early mastery of copper, a resource so central to the island that its Latin name, cuprum, derives from Cyprus itself. Bronze Age weapons, including a dagger (1916.149), attest to early casting traditions, while later Roman-period tools reveal long-term continuity in everyday practices. Tweezers (1916.147), cosmetic implements (1916.144–145), mirrors (1916.135–136), and a rare buckle (1916.146) point to routines of personal care across centuries.

The glass vessels (1916.150–1916.165) document a different technological transformation. Most are Roman blown glass, produced after the invention of the blowpipe in the first century BCE, a development that shifted glassmaking from a luxury craft to large-scale production. One earlier ribbed bowl (1916.153), formed by slumping glass over a mold, preserves an older and more labor-intensive technique.

The acquisition also included several dozen ceramic vessels. Over time, the scope of the museum’s collection evolved, and most of these ceramics were later deaccessioned. Two Archaic vessels from Cyprus, a stamnos (1916.79) and an oinochoe (1916.96), remain in the collection as representatives of this early phase of collecting.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Vessberg 1952, pl. VII nos. 28-29. Hayes 1975, no. 215 fig. 8 and pl. 10 gives no other parallels except Vessberg. Check Bagatti and Milik, Dominus Flevit A II 226-233 (dated ? mid 3 c by Barag) but cf. Franciscans in Nazareth 71 Barag 1970 (pl. 13) dated 2nd quart - end of 1st c and idem(?) from Huqoq. Amman in QDAP.