Cylindrical Box (Pyxis)

Place of OriginCampania or Syrio-Palestine

DateSecond half of the first century CE

DimensionsH: 2 1/16 in. (5.3 cm); Rim Diam: 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm); Diam: 2 5/16 in. (5.8 cm); Base Diam: 2 5/16 in. (5.8 cm)

MediumBlown 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).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.442

Not on View

DescriptionThis glass vessel, classified as a cylindrical box (pyxis), was blown into a three-part mold of two vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section that included a horizontal ridge forming the lower edge of the wall (MCT VII D). It is made from very thin transparent glass with a patchy dark blue hue, though the exact fabric is undetermined due to weathering. Mold seams run from the rim to the ridge and are partly concealed within the inverted palmette motifs. The rim is unworked. The body is cylindrical with an inset and mold-blown ridge near the base, designed to support a lid. The underside of the base has four raised concentric circles surrounding a small central boss. A continuous frieze of eight seven-leaf palmettes—alternately upright and inverted—decorates the body between top and bottom ridges. The upright palmettes have thick outturned leaves, while the inverted ones have thin leaves curling outward. The palmette hearts are rendered with elaborate detail. The relief is moderately crisp.

Published ReferencesPerhaps Richter, G. M. A., "The Curtis Collection of Ancient Glass," Art in America 2, 1914, 85, fig. 15 (it is not clear which of the two pyxides in the Curtis Collection was illustrated by Richter, Cat. No. 80 or Cat. No. 81).

Donald B. Harden, "Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-blown Inscriptions," Journal of Roman Studies 23, 1935, 185, app. B, III, no. e.

Stern, 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, cat. no. 80, p. 171, color plate 15, p. 55.