Hexagonal Bottle, Birds Type, Series A

Place of OriginProbably Phoenicia, perhaps Sidon area

DateProbably second quarter of first century

DimensionsH: 2 15/16 in. (7.47 cm); Rim Diam: 7/8 in. (2.2 cm); Diam: 1 5/8 in. (4.05 cm); Base Diam: 15/16 in. (2.4 cm)

MediumMedium thin glass. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of three vertical sections (MCT IV A).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.462

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent royal blue. Mold seams between panels 6 and 1, 2 and 3, and 4 and 5 meet at center of underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Edges of mold carefully aligned. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck. Downward sloping shoulder and upward sloping bottom joined by a hexagonal body. Low, offset base with flat underside. On the shoulder, six downturned rays or pointed petals. On the body, six almost square panels, each topped with a triangular pediment, divided by ribs or posts; bordered below by a band of egg-and-dart pattern. Between the pediments, unidentified spherical objects. Each panel contains a bird or winged insect in a different pose perched on or flying over a pot-shaped nest or rock. In the panels, from left to right: 1, a bird with a long spoon-shaped bill (perhaps a heron rather than a swan ) to the right on a nest; 2, a fat butterfly to the right with three upright curving wings and antennae on its head, grasping a rock (?) between its feet; 3, a small bird to the left perched on an irregularly shaped rock; 4, a bird to the right perched on a pot; 5, a bird (probably a small raptor) with diagonally outspread wings flying to left over a rock or nest; and 6, a small songbird swooping down to the left to feed invisible young in its nest. On the bottom, twenty-seven upturned tongues. Translucent royal blue. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of three vertical sections (MCT IV A). Mold seams between panels 6 and 1, 2 and 3, and 4 and 5 meet at center of underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Edges of mold carefully aligned. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Cylindrical neck. Downward sloping shoulder and upward sloping bottom joined by a hexagonal body. Low, offset base with flat underside. On the shoulder, six downturned rays or pointed petals. On the body, six almost square panels, each topped with a triangular pediment, divided by ribs or posts; bordered below by a band of egg-and-dart pattern. Between the pediments, unidentified spherical objects. Each panel contains a bird or winged insect in a different pose perched on or flying over a pot-shaped nest or rock. In the panels, from left to right: 1, a bird with a long spoon-shaped bill (perhaps a heron rather than a swan ) to the right on a nest; 2, a fat butterfly to the right with three upright curving wings and antennae on its head, grasping a rock(?) between its feet; 3, a small bird to the left perched on an irregularly shaped rock; 4, a bird to the right perched on a pot; 5, a bird (probably a small raptor) with diagonally outspread wings flying to left over a rock or nest; and 6, a small songbird swooping down to the left to feed invisible young in its nest. On the bottom, twenty-seven upturned tongues. CLASSIFICATION Birds Type, Series A1, Generation A1c

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First Through Sixth Centuries, Rome, Italy, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1995, cat. no. 46, pp. 144-145, color pl. 10, p. 54.