Bottle in the Shape of a Male Head, possibly Dionysos

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Bottle in the Shape of a Male Head, possibly Dionysos

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, perhaps Syro-Palestinian

DateSecond half of the first century CE

DimensionsH: 2 7/8 in. (7.4 cm); Max Diam: 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); Rim Diam: 1 in. (2.6 cm); Base Diam: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm)

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.537

Not on View

DescriptionOpaque white. Medium thick glass. Some vertically elongated bubbles weathered through on surface of neck. Rim and neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of two vertical sections and a disk-shaped base section permanently attached to the vertical section with the back of the head (MCT VI). Mold seams concealed in hair behind ears. Relief moderately crisp. No pontil mark. Everted rim, folded outward, upward, inward, and downward. Tubular neck, slightly crooked. Body in the shape of a head. Circular flat base, with depressed flat circular area on the underside. Body in the shape of a youthful head wearing a fillet and wreath. The face is long and rectangular, with large protruding eyes with recessed pupils, a broad nose, small straight lips, and a round chin with heavy jaw. The face is slightly wider at the jaw than at the forehead. The hair surrounds the face in tufts and thick curls that extend down to the level of the chin. The hair on the back of the head is flatter, with irregular vertical ridges defining the locks. A fillet stretches across the forehead, while the tips of an ivy wreath meet above the fillet over the center of the forehead, with two groups of berries, one on each tip. On the front of the head the wreath consists of large heart-shaped leaves, four on either side of the face. The wreath, without adornment, dips low around the back of the head.

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 220-221, no. 140.