Beaker or lamp

Place of OriginLikely Iran (Southern Caucasus or Mesopotamia)

Dateabout 375-550

Dimensions5 1/16 × 4 1/4 in. (12.9 × 10.8 cm)

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

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

Object number

1981.96

Not on View

DescriptionColorless glass with a greenish tinge and a transparent deep-blue droplet at the pointed base. The vessel is conical in shape, blown in an open mold, and decorated with an intricate combination of wheel-cut techniques, including panel cutting, arcading, and facet cutting. The original glass surface is mostly ground away to achieve a complex pattern. The rim is cracked off and left unworked. The vessel was likely designed to be suspended, potentially as part of a multi-lamp fixture (polycandelon).

Label TextThis elegant glass vessel was made between the 4th and 6th centuries CE during the rule of the Sasanian Empire, which once stretched across modern-day Iran and parts of the Middle East. Shaped in a conical form and made from clear glass with a slight greenish hue, it features an applied droplet of vivid blue glass at the base. Its surface is covered in intricate cut patterns—arched forms, facets, and grooves—made using a rotating wheel and abrasives, a demanding technique requiring high levels of craftsmanship. The vessel’s shape and decoration suggest it may have been used as a hanging lamp. In grand halls and religious spaces, such lamps were suspended from large circular metal frames called polycandela, casting flickering light through cut glass. However, scholars also debate whether similar vessels were used for drinking. Because few examples survive in such fine condition, and none with a known archaeological context, their exact use remains uncertain. The Sasanian Empire was known for luxury arts like silverwork, textiles, and glass, which reflected both wealth and sophisticated taste. This lamp’s refined workmanship, light-catching surface, and distinctive form place it among the most impressive glass pieces to survive from the late ancient world.Published ReferencesLuckner, K., "Recent Acquisitions of Ancient Glass at the Toledo Museum of Art," The Decorative Arts Society Newsletter, vol. VIII, no. 2 and 3, September, 1982, p. 11, repr.

"Recent Important Acquisitions," Journal of Glass Studies, vol. 24, 1982, repr. p. 89.

Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, p.45-46, repr. (col.) p. 45.