Cylindrical Bottle with One Pair of Floral Sprays
Cylindrical Bottle with One Pair of Floral Sprays
Place of OriginRoman Empire, perhaps Syria or Palestine
DateProbably mid- or third quarter of the first century
DimensionsH: 3 9/16 in. (9.1 cm); Diam: 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm); Base Diam: 1 in. (2.5 cm)
MediumGlass; mold blown and tooled.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.483
Not on View
DescriptionThis cylindrical bottle was made of transparent to translucent streaked manganese-colored glass, with a translucent grayish blue handle. The thin-walled glass contains small oval and spherical bubbles in the body. The neck was free blown, while the body was formed in a mold—likely three-part—with two vertical sections joined to a cup-shaped base section that included the ribbed decoration around the bottom (MCT V). Mold seams end at the floral sprays and do not extend onto the shoulder. The relief is indistinct, and the tip of the handle is drawn out thin. Vertical crimps appear at the base of the neck from tooling.
The vessel features a rim folded outward, upward, and inward; a neck tapering downward; a convex shoulder and bottom joined by a cylindrical body; and a flat base with a broad raised circle around a central dimple. A bifurcated handle was applied to the shoulder and attached to the rim, with a projecting thumbrest above; it is positioned away from the mold seam behind the sprays.
A frieze of twenty-six fine ribs with thickened lower ends decorates the shoulder. Two horizontally aligned floral sprays, each composed of alternating single-pointed leaves and round fruit—possibly stylized olives—decorate the body. Around the bottom, a frieze of thirty fine ribs with thickened upper ends encircles the vessel.
Published ReferencesEisen, Gustavus A., with Fahim Kouchakji, Glass: Its Origin, History, Chronology, Technic and Classification to the Sixteenth Century, vol. I, New York, 1927, p. 253, pl. 52, below left.
Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 169, no. 78.
First half of the first century
First half of the first century
Probably second quarter of the first century
Probably second quarter of the first century
Probably second quarter of the first century
Probably second half of the first century
Probably second half of 1st century
First half of the first century
Probably second quarter of the first century
1815-1840
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