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Spherical Bottle with Lozenge Pattern

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Image Not Available for Spherical Bottle with Lozenge Pattern
Spherical Bottle with Lozenge Pattern
Image Not Available for Spherical Bottle with Lozenge Pattern

Spherical Bottle with Lozenge Pattern

Place of OriginSyria or inland Palestine
DateFirst half of 3rd century
DimensionsH: 2 11/16 in. (6.9 cm); Max Diam: 2 3/16 in. (5.55cm); Rim Diam: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm); Diam (body): 2 3/16 in. (5.6 cm)
MediumGlass; mold blown in a two-part mold.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.1334
Not on View
DescriptionThis small spherical bottle, known as a sprinkler, is made of medium thin glass with a body blown in a two-part vertical mold (MCT VIII). The rim and neck were free-blown. The collar rim is outsplayed horizontally and very thin at the edge, with a small cut-out below. Inside the neck, a constriction forms an interior diaphragm that limits the flow of liquid through an aperture about 0.3 cm wide. The spherical body rests on a flattened base, and the mold-blown decoration consists of twelve rows of raised lozenges, though the top two rows are now barely visible. A continuous mold seam extends around the body and base. The original color cannot be determined due to weathering. The glass has visible blowing spirals and no pontil mark.
Label TextThe sprinkler, a new shape that developed before the mid-third century A.D., had a constriction like a washer inside the neck that restricted the flow of the contents to a few drops or a trickle.Published ReferencesGrose, David F., "Ancient Glass," The Toledo Museum of Art Museum News 20 (1978) p. 82, fig. 20 (acc. no. mistakenly cited as 1923.1134).

Grose, David F., "The Origins and Early History of Glass," in D. Klein and W. Lloyd eds., The History of Glass (London 1984), p. 37, ill.

Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: the First through Sixth Centuries, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in Association with the Toledo Museum of Art, Rome, Italy, 1995, cat. no. 129, p. 195-196.

Arts, P.L.W., "A Collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC - 500 AD," ANTIEK Lochem, 2000, p. 114.

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