Spherical Flask with Collar at Shoulder

Place of OriginAncient Rome, Eastern Mediterranean, perhaps Syro-Palestinian

DateProbably Second Century

DimensionsH: 5 3/16 in. (13.1 cm);
H body: 3 1/8 in. (8.0 cm);
Max Diam: 3 1/8 in. (8.0 cm);
Diam Rim: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm);
Diam base: 1 9/16 in. (3.9 x 3.8 cm)

MediumMedium thin glass. Free and mold blown.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1084

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent yellowish olive brown (not in rock color chart). Pinprick and small bubbles. Neck and mouth free blown. Body blown into a four-part mold of three vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section (MCT III). Relief crisp except just above the base. No pontil mark. Rim outsplayed at a 45-degree angle, rounded and thickened in flame. Tall tubular neck, with slight bulge above constriction at its base. Concave shoulder above shoulder collar. Spherical body with walls curving down to vertical edge above concave base. On the body, sunken relief design of nine interlocking circles with a dot in the center of each, bordered above and below by a double row of dots. On underside of base, a raised circle around a small central knob.

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, pl. 115, p. 188, colorpl. 18, p. 57.