Head-shaped Bottle on Stemmed Foot

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Head-shaped Bottle on Stemmed Foot

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean

DateLate 19th century

DimensionsH: 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm); Rim Diam: 1/2 in. (1.3 cm); Body Diam: 1 3/16 in. (3.1 cm)

MediumGlass; mold blown in a two part mold, applied base.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.519

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent light bluish gray glass with manganese colored streak appearing black in reflected light. Medium thick glass. A few small spherical bubbles in body. Neck and body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections, open at the base. Mold seams through hair. Stem free blown. Applied base. Relief crisp. No pontil mark. Straight rim rounded in flame. Short bulging tubular neck. Body in the shape of a head, below which the stem is in the form of a knob. Thin picked-up disk base. Body in the shape of a head with childlike features: large almond-shaped eyes with recessed pupils, triangular nose with sharp angles, carefully rendered vertical ridges of lip below the nose, small mouth with lips slightly parted, heavy cheeks and chin. Face widest at the jaw. Forehead, tip of nose, and chin in one plane. Stylized hair with individual locks rendered as irregular wavy ridges ending in circular hooks, especially on back of head. Hair falls over center of forehead in a triangular lock with a loop suggesting a jewel at the tip. Translucent light bluish gray glass with manganese colored streak appearing black in reflected light. Neck and body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections, open at the base. Mold seams through hair. Stem free blown. Applied base. Relief crisp. No pontil mark. Straight rim rounded in flame. Short bulging tubular neck. Body in the shape of a head, below which the stem is in the form of a knob. Thin picked-up disk base. Body in the shape of a head with childlike features: large almond-shaped eyes with recessed pupils, triangular nose with sharp angles, carefully rendered vertical ridges of lip below the nose, small mouth with lips slightly parted, heavy cheeks and chin. Face widest at the jaw. Forehead, tip of nose, and chin in one plane. Stylized hair with individual locks rendered as irregular wavy ridges ending in circular hooks, especially on back of head. Hair falls over center of forehead in a triangular lock with a loop suggesting a jewel at the tip.

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 246, no. 168.