Hexagonal Bottle, Fruit Type, Series A

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Hexagonal Bottle, Fruit Type, Series A

Place of OriginPhoenicia, possibly made in Sidon

DatePerhaps second quarter of 1st century

DimensionsH: 3 1/8 in. (7.93 cm); Rim Diam: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm); Diam: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm); Base Diam: 15/16 in. (2.4 cm)

MediumMedium thin glass; Opaque white. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of three vertical sections (MCT IV A).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.433

Not on View

DescriptionThis mold-blown hexagonal bottle, classified as Fruit Type, Series A1, Generation A1a, is made from medium thin opaque white glass. The neck was free-blown, while the body was blown into a three-part mold of vertical sections (MCT IV A), with seams converging at the flat underside of the low, offset base. The rim is folded outward, upward, and inward; the neck tapers above a convex circular shoulder and bottom. The six rectangular panels are separated by thin vertical ribs and bordered below by a narrow band with a simplified egg-and-dart pattern. Each panel features a stylized fruit: panels 1 and 4 display a pomegranate; 2 and 5, a cedar cone; and 3 and 6, a bunch of grapes. A blurred inverted floral motif (possibly pomegranates, lotus, or leaves) appears in relief on the shoulder. Around the base are six double-bordered triangular leaves centered beneath the panels, alternating with slender oval petals beneath each rib. Relief is crisp.

Published ReferencesLightfoot, Christopher S., "A Roman Glass Flask in the Gaziantep Museum," Anatolian Studies, Journal of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara 35 (1985) p. 124, no. 14.

Stern, 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. 36, pp. 129-132, col. pl. 5 & 7, pp. 52 and 53, photograph, fig. 55.