Hexagonal Bottle, Birds Type, Series B

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Hexagonal Bottle, Birds Type, Series B

Place of OriginAncient Rome, Probably Phoenicia, perhaps Sidon area

DateProbably mid-first century

DimensionsH: 2 7/8 in. (7.25 cm); Rim Diam: 13/16 in. (2 cm); Max Diam: 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); Base Diam: 7/8 in. (2.3 cm)

MediumGlass; mold blown and tooled.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.461

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent blue. Medium thin glass. Fabric cannot be determined because of weathering. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of three vertical sections (MCT IV). Mold seams between panels 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 meet at center of underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Edges of mold carefully aligned. Rim irregularly folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck. Downward sloping shoulder and upward sloping bottom joined by a hexagonal body. Flat base. On the shoulder, six rounded arches. On the body, six rectangular panels, divided by timber framework consisting of posts and beams with diagonal supports branching out near the top (forming the Greek letter [psi]) and meeting above the middle of the panels. Indication of the crossbeams connecting the bases of the diagonal supports is indistinct, making the main fields of the panels nearly square. The panels are bordered below by a smooth band slanting outward. Each panel contains a bird in a different pose perched on or flying over a pot-shaped nest or rock. In the panels, from left to right: 1, a bird with its head to the right (perhaps a swan ) perched on the center of a trefoil bush; 2, a long-necked bird swooping down toward left and sticking its long beak into a pot lying on its side; 3, a small bird to the left perched on an unidentified object and touching the frame of the panel with its beak; 4, a large bird with a long neck (a swan) perched on a semicircular object, perhaps a mound-shaped nest; 5, a bird (a small raptor) flying to left with outspread wings over a nest or rock; and 6, a songbird with wings extended upward perched on the edge of a pot-shaped nest and bending its head down to the left to feed a young bird lifting its head up out of the nest. On the bottom, twenty-six upturned tongues. CLASSIFICATION: Birds Type, Series B1, Generation B1a Translucent blue. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of three vertical sections (MCT IV A). Mold seams between panels 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 meet at center of underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Edges of mold carefully aligned. Rim irregularly folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck. Downward sloping shoulder and upward sloping bottom joined by a hexagonal body. Flat base. On the shoulder, six rounded arches. On the body, six rectangular panels, divided by timber framework consisting of posts and beams with diagonal supports branching out near the top (forming the Greek letter C [psi]) and meeting above the middle of the panels. Indication of the crossbeams connecting the bases of the diagonal supports is indistinct, making the main fields of the panels nearly square. The panels are bordered below by a smooth band slanting outward. Each panel contains a bird in a different pose perched on or flying over a pot-shaped nest or rock. In the panels, from left to right: 1, a bird with its head to the right (perhaps a swan ) perched on the center of a trefoil bush; 2, a long-necked bird swooping down toward left and sticking its long beak into a pot lying on its side; 3, a small bird to the left perched on an unidentified object and touching the frame of the panel with its beak; 4, a large bird with a long neck (a swan) perched on a semicircular object, perhaps a mound-shaped nest; 5, a bird (a small raptor) flying to left with outspread wings over a nest or rock; and 6, a songbird with wings extended upward perched on the edge of a pot-shaped nest and bending its head down to the left to feed a young bird lifting its head up out of the nest. On the bottom, twenty-six upturned tongues. CLASSIFICATION Birds Type, Series B1, Generation B1a

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. 47, pp. 145-146.