Hexagonal Bottle, Vessels Type, Series A

Place of OriginPhoenicia

DateProbably first half of first century

DimensionsH: 2 15/16 in. (7.46 cm); Diam: 1 9/16 in. (4 cm); Rim Diam:7/8 in. (2.2 cm); Base Diam: 15/16 in. (2.45 cm)

MediumMedium thin glass. Neck free blown. Body blown into a four-part mold of three vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section (MCT II).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.531

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent dark yellowish green (10 GY 4/4) and moderate blue green (5 BG 4/6). Opaque reddish brown streaks in neck and rim. Batch not well melted; possibly same batch as 1923.473. Numerous small spherical bubbles in body and small to large linear and pinprick bubbles in neck. Mold seams between panels 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 1. Relief crisp on panels 1, 2, and 3, but difficult to distinguish because of the transparency of the glass. The bottle sags toward panel 5 where the relief is blurred. Horizontal bulge and vertical crimp marks at base of the neck from tool used to hold the bottle while finishing the rim. Flaring rim, folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck with slight downward taper. Sloping shoulder. Bulbous body with greatest diameter halfway between center and base. Low, offset base with flat underside with two raised concentric circles. On the shoulder, six pointed arches, each containing an unidentified, large, egg-shaped object. On the body, six rectangular panels divided by columns, each with an abacus and torus capital, smooth shaft, and high double torus base. In the panels, six vessels, from left to right: 1, a spouted jug with handle to the right; 2, a footed bowl with wide opening and two curving handles from shoulder to rim, the opening containing three rows of rounded objects (fruit?); 3, a footed wide-mouthed vessel with two vertical handles on the shoulder; 4, a footed bowl with tall cylindrical neck with vertical grooves, oblate body, and tall crooked stem, the mouth filled with two rows of rounded objects (fruit?); 5, a footed jug with a round mouth and high handle to the right; and 6, a second footed wide-mouthed vessel as in panel 3. Around the bottom, fillets suspended from the center of one panel to the center of the adjacent panel, with alternating large and small fruits with knobbed surfaces below each column, the larger ones on the seams and covering the fillet. Translucent dark yellowish green (10 GY 4/4) and moderate blue green (5 BG 4/6). Opaque reddish brown streaks in neck and rim. Batch not well melted; possibly same batch as Cat. No. 31. Neck free blown. Body blown into a four-part mold of three vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section (MCT II). Mold seams between panels 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 1. Relief crisp on panels 1, 2, and 3, but difficult to distinguish because of the transparency of the glass. The bottle sags toward panel 5 where the relief is blurred. Horizontal bulge and vertical crimp marks at base of the neck from tool used to hold the bottle while finishing the rim. Flaring rim, folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck with slight downward taper. Sloping shoulder. Bulbous body with greatest diameter halfway between center and base. Low, offset base with flat underside with two raised concentric circles. On the shoulder, six pointed arches, each containing an unidentified, large, egg-shaped object. On the body, six rectangular panels divided by columns, each with an abacus and torus capital, smooth shaft, and high double torus base. In the panels, six vessels, from left to right: 1, a spouted jug with handle to the right; 2, a footed bowl with wide opening and two curving handles from hip to rim, the opening containing three rows of rounded objects (fruit?); 3, a footed wide-mouthed vessel with two vertical handles on the shoulder; 4, a footed bowl with tall cylindrical neck with vertical grooves, oblate body, and tall crooked stem, the mouth filled with two rows of rounded objects (fruit?); 5, a footed jug with a round mouth and high handle to the right; and 6, a second footed wide-mouthed vessel as in panel 3. Around the bottom, fillets suspended from the center of one panel to the center of the adjacent panel, with alternating large and small fruits with knobbed surfaces below each column, the larger ones on the seams and covering the fillet. CLASSIFICATION Vessels Type, Series A3, Generation A3a

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First Through Sixth Centuries, Rome, Italy, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1995, cat. no. 26, pp. 122-124, color plate 6, p. 52, photograph, fig. 43.

Arts, P.L.W., "A Collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC - 500 AD," ANTIEK Lochem, 2000, p. 103.