Acorn-shaped Bottle
Acorn-shaped Bottle
Place of OriginAncient Rome, Syria or Palestine, perhaps made in Sidon
DateFirst half of the first century
DimensionsH: 3 9/16 in. (9 cm); H (body): 2 13/16 in. (7.15 cm); Max Diam: 1 5/8 in. (4.2 cm); Rim Diam: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm)
MediumMedium thin glass, mold-blown.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.441
Not on View
DescriptionThis small bottle is shaped like an acorn and formed by blowing glass into a two-part vertical mold (MCT VIII), creating a continuous seam around the body and the pointed base. The rim is irregularly tooled outward and inward, and the neck is concave.
Two coil handles were applied beneath the rim and drawn down toward the shoulder, but not attached, creating the appearance of "floating" handles. Excess glass at the tips was cut off and pinched into small disks. The shoulder is decorated with five horizontal bands of linked boxes that imitate the acorn’s cupule.
A paper label inside the bottle reads "L 1265 / 14," which is also painted in red on the base.
Published ReferencesRichter, Gisela M.A., "The Curtis Collection of Ancient Glass," Art in America; Vol. 2, 1914, repr. fig. 12, p. 83.
Stern, E. Marianne, "The Workshop of the floating handles," in Gnade, M., Stips Votiva, Papers presented to C. M. Stibbe, Amsterdam 1991, pp. 199-204, fig. 1 [article in pam. file].
Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, 1995, no. 113, p. 182-183, color pl. 11, p. 54.
Workshop of the Floating Handles
first half CE 1st century
Mid-first to early second century
about 1500
Sixth to early seventh centuries
Probably third century
Probably first half of first century
Probably first half of first century
Perhaps second quarter of first century
Edo Period (1615-1868), about 1760
1800-1850
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