Elongated Cylindrical Bottle with Two Handles

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Elongated Cylindrical Bottle with Two Handles

Place of Originpossibly from Mt. Carmel, Roman Levant

Dateabout 3rd century

DimensionsH: 15 in.; W: 4 1/4 in.; D: 4 1/4 in. Rim Diam: 2 7/8 in.; Diam: 3 1/2 in. Handle H: 3 in.

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1916.77

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionNatural bluish-green body and handles; slightly flared rim; two applied wide handles with light vertical ribbing; cylindrical body; flat bottom. Translucent to transparent natural grayish green (5 G 5/2). Two similarly colored handles. Thick glass. Pinprick and vertically elongated bubbles in body. One large elongated bubble in rim. Body blown into a one-part mold. No pontil mark. Excess glass at tip of handle folded against neck. Rim rounded and thickened in flame; tool mark along interior edge. Cylindrical neck with concave sides. Sloping shoulder. Tall straightsided cylindrical body. Flat base with unintentional concavity on one side. Two broad pre-formed handles with fine ribs from shoulder to below rim.

Label TextAlthough practical containers, the bottles displayed here have a subtle beauty which is enhanced by the vibrant blue and green glass used to make them. These bottles were formed using a technique called mold-blowing where a molten glass bubble was blown into a mold, forcing the bubble to conform to the mold’s shape. This technique allowed glass to be utilized as a medium for mass production by guaranteeing a standardization of shape, while at the same time giving the glassblower the option to add free-formed details such as handles.Published ReferencesGrose, David, "Ancient Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 20, no. 3, 1978, p. 81, repr. fig. 17.

Grose, David, "The Origins and Early History of Glass," in The History of Glass, London, 1984, repr. p. 31.

Groffi, T., and J. Heus, Beschavingen 2, Antwerp, 1990, repr. p. 241.

Cummings, Keith, A History of Glassforming, London, 2002, p. 80, repr.