Bulbous Bottle with Two Handles

Place of OriginSyria-Palestine

DateFirst century

DimensionsH: 3 1/16 in. (7.78 cm); H (Body): 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm); Max Diam: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm); Rim Diam: 1 1/8 in. (2.8 cm); Base Diam: 7/8 in. (2.25 cm)

MediumNeck free blown. Body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections (MCT VIII).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.494

Not on View

DescriptionThis small vessel is made of translucent dark royal blue glass with two opaque buff-white handles. The glass is of medium thinness, but the fabric cannot be assessed due to weathering. The cylindrical neck was free blown, while the ovoid body was blown into a two-part mold consisting of vertical sections (MCT VIII). A continuous mold seam runs across the underside of the base, which lies in two planes due to misaligned mold edges. The rim is everted, rounded, and thickened in flame, with a tool mark visible on the interior along approximately three-quarters of its circumference. The flat base supports an ovoid body. Two coil handles, applied at the shoulder and affixed midway up the neck, are positioned near the mold seams. The tips of the handles were drawn thin and folded back. Decorative features include a frieze of approximately twenty-three downturned raised tongues on the upper body—some obscured by the handle attachments—and twenty-five upturned tongues on the lower body. These are separated by a central band of large, stylized tendril scrolls, framed above and below by raised ridges.

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. 57, p.153.

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