Cylindrical Box (Pyxis) and Conical Lid

Place of OriginAncient Rome, Campanian or Syro-Palestinian

DateSecond half of the first century CE

DimensionsH (with lid): 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm);
H (without lid): 2 1/8 in. (5.35 cm);
Max Diam: 2 5/16 in. (5.95 cm);
Rim Diam: 2 3/16 in. (5.6 cm);
Rim Thickness: 1/16 in. (0.09 cm);
Base Diam: 2 5/16 in. (5.82 cm);
Lid H: 1 7/16 in. (3.6 cm);
Lid Max Diam: 2 1/2 in. (6.3 cm);
Lid Rim Diam: 2 5/16 in. (5.9 cm);
Lid Rim Thickness: 1/16 in. (0.08 cm)

MediumGlass; mold-blown.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1967.5

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent light olive tint (10 Y 5/4). Design-base has six pointed palmettes, same design on lid. Pinprick bubbles. Box: blown into a three-part mold of two vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section which included the horizontal ridge forming the lower edge of the wall (MCT VII D). Mold seams from rim to ridge partly concealed in the inverted palmettes; on one side the seam protrudes significantly. Lid: blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections from rim to top of lid (MCT VIII). Relief moderately crisp but difficult to distinguish because of transparency. Box: rim unworked. Cylindrical body with inset and mold-blown ridge below to support lid. On the flat underside of the base, four raised concentric circles around a small central boss. Lid: rim unworked. Cylindrical lip with conical top. Box: on the body, between two ridges forming top and bottom borders, a continuous frieze of eight elegant seven-leaf palmettes, alternately upright and inverted. The upright palmettes have thick outturned leaves; the inverted palmettes have thin leaves curling up and inward. Elaborate detailing of the palmette hearts. Lid: sixteen downturned tongues in raised outline bordered by a band of ten three-leaf palmettes, alternately upright and inverted. Transparent light olive tint (10 Y 5/4). Box: blown into a three-part mold of two vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section which included the horizontal ridge forming the lower edge of the wall (MCT VII D). Mold seams from rim to ridge partly concealed in the inverted palmettes; on one side the seam protrudes significantly. Lid: blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections from rim to top of lid (MCT VIII). Relief moderately crisp but difficult to distinguish because of transparency. Box: rim unworked. Cylindrical body with inset and mold-blown ridge below to support lid. On the flat underside of the base, four raised concentric circles around a small central boss. Lid: rim unworked. Cylindrical lip with conical top. Box: on the body, between two ridges forming top and bottom borders, a continuous frieze of eight elegant seven-leaf palmettes, alternately upright and inverted. The upright palmettes have thick outturned leaves; the inverted palmettes have thin leaves curling outward. Elaborate detailing of the palmette hearts. Lid: sixteen downturned tongues in raised outline bordered by a band of ten three-leaf palmettes, alternately upright and inverted.

Published ReferencesSambon, Arthur, "Les verres antiques," Le Musée, 3 (1906), p. 501, fig. 58.

Sangiorgi, G., Collezione di Vetri Antichi dalle Origini al V secolo D. Chr, Milan and Rome, 1914, no. 102, pl. 18.

Harden, Donald B., "Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-blown Inscriptions," Journal of Roman Studies, 25, 1935, p. 185, app. B, III, no. a.

Kern, J.H.C., "A Fragmentary Mould-Blown Glass Pyxis from Pompeii," Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden 35, 1954, p. 33, fig. 6.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Art in Glass: A Guide to the Glass Collections, Toledo, Ohio, 1969, 24, ill.

Stern, 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. 79, p. 169-171, color pl. 14 and 15, p. 55.