Wheel-Cut Bottle

Place of OriginIran, reportedly from Gorgan

Date10th century

DimensionsH: 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm)

MediumBlown glass, with wheel-cut decoration

ClassificationGlass

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

Object number

1947.6

Not on View

DescriptionA small, colorless glass bottle featuring a short, cylindrical body with a flat base, a sloping shoulder, and a tall, flaring neck. The thick glass walls are decorated with deep wheel-cut patterns in the "beveled" or "slant-cut" style. The decoration consists of a register of recessed arches or geometric lozenges enclosing abstract, stylized vegetal motifs. The cuts are angled to meet at ridges without a flat background plane. The neck features faceted bands. The surface exhibits some weathering and iridescence.

Published ReferencesRiefstahl, Rudolf M., "Ancient and Near Eastern Glass," Toledo Museum News, New Series, Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring 1961, p. 42.

Toledo Museum of Art, Art in Glass: A Guide to the Glass Collections, Toledo, 1969, p. 38.

Exhibition HistoryDenver, CO, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathways to the Modern World, 2014-2015.Comparative ReferencesCf. Sammlung E. und M. Kofler-Truniger, Luzern, Kunsthaus, Zurich, 1964, p. 119, cat. no. 1153.