Bulbous Bottle with One Handle

Place of OriginAncient Rome, Syria or Palestine

DateFirst century

DimensionsH: 2 27/32 in. (7.2 cm); Rim Diam: 1 3/16 in. (3.1 cm); Diam: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm); Base Diam: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm)

MediumGlass; mold blown and tooled.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.493

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent dark reddish manganese colored glass. Unintentional bluish green streaks in rim and neck. Medium thin glass. Numerous pinprick and small spherical bubbles in body; linear bubbles in neck, of which three in a row burst at surface. Neck free blown. Body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections (MCT VIII). One continuous mold seam extends across underside of base. Edges of mold not carefully aligned; therefore, base is in two planes. Tip of handle drawn out thin and folded back. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck tapering slightly downward. Ovoid body. Base intended to be flat. Coil handle applied to shoulder and attached to top of rim with projecting loop above. Handle positioned over and next to seam. Friezes of twenty-nine downturned contiguous flutes in raised outline on upper body and thirty upturned flutes on lower body joined by a central band of stylized tendril scrolls and dots bordered above and below by a raised ridge. Translucent dark reddish manganese colored glass. Unintentional bluish green streaks in rim and neck. Neck free blown. Body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections (MCT VIII). One continuous mold seam extends across underside of base. Edges of mold not carefully aligned; therefore, base is in two planes. Tip of handle drawn out thin and folded back. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck tapering slightly downward. Ovoid body. Base intended to be flat. Coil handle applied to shoulder and attached to top of rim with projecting loop above. Handle positioned over and next to seam. Friezes of twenty-nine downturned contiguous flutes in raised outline on upper body and thirty upturned flutes on lower body joined by a central band of stylized tendril scrolls and dots bordered above and below by a raised ridge.

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 153-154, no. 58.

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