Bulbous Bottle with "Corrugated" Shoulder Coil

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Bulbous Bottle with "Corrugated" Shoulder Coil

Place of OriginEgypt (most likely)

Date5th-6th century CE

DimensionsH: 9 3/16 in. (23.4 cm); Diam: 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm)

MediumGlass; blown and tooled, with applied decoration

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineReceived in exchange from the Kelsey Museum of Ancient & Medieval Archaeology, University of Michigan

Object number

1977.19

Not on View

DescriptionA free-blown bulbous bottle of medium-thin glass. The vessel features a flaring rim folded outward, upward, and inward, leading to a tubular neck that constricts slightly at the base. The shoulder slopes steeply into a bulbous body with its widest diameter situated below the midline; the base is concave with no pontil mark. The glass is transparent yellowish-green with numerous bubbles (small to medium, vertically elongated in the neck and ovoid in the body) and some stone inclusions. The primary decoration is a translucent dusky yellow-green coil applied to the shoulder, featuring opaque streaks. This coil has been tooled into a "corrugated" pattern with ten projecting crimps trailed from left to right.

Label TextThis sturdy bottle, likely used for storing oil, wine, or perfume, showcases the speed and skill of Late Roman glassblowers. Created in the Eastern Mediterranean (likely Egypt) during the 5th or 6th century CE, it features a distinctive "corrugated" collar around the shoulder. The glassmaker applied a hot trail of darker glass and quickly pinched it into a wavy pattern before it cooled. This decoration wasn't just aesthetic; it may have provided a better grip for handling the smooth vessel with slippery hands. The bubbles and small stones visible in the glass are hallmarks of rapid production in ancient wood-fired furnaces. This object was held by the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) as accession number 5127 prior to 1977.Published ReferencesGrose, David, "Ancient Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 20, no. 3, 1978, p. 69, repr. fig. 31.

Grose, David, "The Origins and Early History of Glass," in The History of Glass, London, 1984, repr. (col.) p. 12-13.