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

DescriptionTranslucent to transparent natural grayish green (5 G 5/2) glass with two similarly colored handles. Thick glass with pinprick and vertically elongated bubbles in the body and one large elongated bubble in the rim. The body was blown into a one-part mold. There is no pontil mark. Excess glass at the tips of the handles is folded against the neck. The rim is slightly flared, rounded, and thickened in the flame, with a tool mark along the interior edge. The cylindrical neck has concave sides and leads to a sloping shoulder. The tall cylindrical body has straight sides. The flat base features an unintentional concavity on one side. Two broad pre-formed handles with fine vertical ribs extend from the shoulder to just below the 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.