Bulbous Bottle with Two Handles

Place of OriginAncient Rome, Syro-Palestinian

DateProbably second half of the 1st century

DimensionsH: 2 15/16 in. (7.4 cm);
H (body): 2 3/16 in. (5.5 cm);
Max Diam: 1 15/16 in. (4.85 cm);
Rim Diam: 15/16 in. (2.35 cm);
Base Diam: 1 in. (2.6 cm)

MediumGlass; blown, tooled

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.681

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent dark purplish blue glass. One translucent streaked similarly colored handle and one translucent manganese colored handle. Small spherical bubbles. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of two vertical sections joined to a cup-shaped base section (MCT V D). Edges of vertical mold sections not carefully aligned. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck. Ovoid body. Flat base. Two coil handles applied to shoulder and attached just below rim. Handles positioned next to mold seams. Friezes of twenty-one downturned tongues in raised outline on upper body and twenty-three similar upturned tongues on lower body joined by a central band of contiguous lozenges in raised outline (or X's or net pattern) with thickened intersection points. Central band bordered by a groove and a raised ridge above and a raised ridge below. Translucent dark purplish blue glass. One translucent streaked similarly colored handle and one translucent manganese colored handle. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of two vertical sections joined to a cup-shaped base section (MCT V D). Edges of vertical mold sections no carefully aligned. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck. Ovoid body. Flat base. Two coil handles applied to shoulder and attached just below rim. Handles positioned next to mold seams. Friezes of tenty-one downturned tongues in raised outline on upper body and twenty-three similar upturned tongues on lower body joined by a central band of contiguous lozenges in raised outline (or XÕs or net pattern) with thickened intersection points. Central band bordered by a groove and a raised ridge above and a raised ridge below.

Published ReferencesStern, 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, no. 53, p. 150-151.