Ovoid Bottle with Stylized Grape Pattern

Place of OriginRoman Empire, probably Syria or inland Palestine

DateProbably 3rd century

DimensionsH: 5 1/8 in. (13 cm);
H Body: 3 1/16 in. (7.7 cm);
Diam: 2 5/8 in. (6.7-6.3 cm);
Diam Rim: 1 3/8 in. (3.5-3.4 cm);
Diam Base: 1 7/16 in. (3.7 x 3.3 cm)

MediumMedium thick glass.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1080

Not on View

DescriptionThis vessel is made of medium thick glass that ranges in color from translucent to transparent dark grayish green (10 Y 6/6) to light olive brown (5 Y 5/6). Small vertically elongated oval and linear bubbles appear in the neck, with small spherical bubbles in the body. The neck and projecting roll were free blown, while the body and collar above the shoulder were blown into a three-part mold consisting of two vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section (MCT VII). The vertical mold seams run halfway between the leaves, and the relief remains crisp. A pontil mark measuring approximately 1.1 cm in diameter is visible on the base. The bottle has a flaring rim folded outward, upward, inward, and downward, a tall cylindrical neck, and a hollow projecting roll above the shoulder collar. Its ovoid body tapers to a flat base. The body is decorated with a stylized grape pattern made up of ten interlocking rows of twenty-one contiguous hemispherical knobs. At the shoulder, opposite each other and centered between the mold seams, are two small vestigial leaves without a central vein. The underside of the base is undecorated. This form is classified as a Stylized Grape Bottle, Series A.

Published ReferencesStern, 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, no. 122, p. 192-193.