Acorn-shaped Bottle

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Acorn-shaped Bottle

Artist Workshop of the Floating Handles

Place of OriginRoman Empire, Syria or Palestine, perhaps made in Sidon

DateFirst half of the 1st century

DimensionsH: 3 9/16 in. (9 cm); H (body): 2 13/16 in. (7.15 cm); Max Diam: 1 5/8 in. (4.2 cm); Rim Diam: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm)

MediumMedium thin glass, mold-blown.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.441

Not on View

DescriptionThis small bottle is shaped like an acorn and formed by blowing glass into a two-part vertical mold (MCT VIII), creating a continuous seam around the body and the pointed base. The rim is irregularly tooled outward and inward, and the neck is concave. Two coil handles were applied beneath the rim and drawn down toward the shoulder, but not attached, creating the appearance of "floating" handles. Excess glass at the tips was cut off and pinched into small disks. The shoulder is decorated with five horizontal bands of linked boxes that imitate the acorn’s cupule. A paper label inside the bottle reads "L 1265 / 14," which is also painted in red on the base.

Published ReferencesRichter, Gisela M.A., "The Curtis Collection of Ancient Glass," Art in America; Vol. 2, 1914, repr. fig. 12, p. 83.

Stern, E. Marianne, "The Workshop of the floating handles," in Gnade, M., Stips Votiva, Papers presented to C. M. Stibbe, Amsterdam 1991, pp. 199-204, fig. 1 [article in pam. file].

Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, 1995, no. 113, p. 182-183, color pl. 11, p. 54.