Bulbous Bowl on Base Ring
Bulbous Bowl on Base Ring
Place of OriginCyprus, excavated by 1873
Date1st century CE
DimensionsGlass Dimensions: 1 15/16 × 4 7/16 × 2 1/16 in. (4.9 × 11.3 × 5.2 cm)
Mediumglass
ClassificationGlass
Object number
1916.154
Not on View
DescriptionThis bowl was free-blown and shaped by tooling. It is made of transparent, natural pale green glass (5 G 7/2) and exhibits a thin fabric with a few pinprick bubbles. The vessel features a hollow, flaring rim that is folded outward, then downward and inward. The sides curve smoothly into a concave, pushed-in base, which is encircled by a hollow tubular base ring. A circular scar approximately 2.2 cm in diameter is present on the underside of the base from the removal of the pontil.
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.
3rd-5th century CE
3rd-4th century CE
3rd-5th century CE
1st-2nd century CE
4th century
4th century CE
4th-5th century CE
3rd-5th century CE
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