This is an exceptional object by virtue of its rarity, quality, technique, and decoration. Prior to the invention of glassblowing in the first century B.C. (a development that allowed mass production), the finest glass vessels were luxury objects. The bucket was manufactured by casting a thick block of translucent greenish glass, which was then ground, polished, painted, and gilded. The swing handles are flat strips of silver.

The situla is an exceedingly rare shape in the repertoire of Greek glassmakers. Even more remarkable, however, is the painted and gilded decoration that originally covered most of the exterior. The ornament comprises three main elements: A continuous wave pattern in pinkish red runs under the rim; two broad vertical stripes with wavy tendrils in purplish red descend the sides of the bucket (there are traces of gilding over the paint in the vertical bands); and the rest of the vessel's body is largely covered with rows of assorted floral or featherlike ornaments, painted in several shades of pinkish red outlined with dark brown. A pink rosette occupies the center of the situla's base. If the painted patterns in fact represent overlapping feathers rather than floral motifs, one could venture an Egyptian origin for our glass bucket, since the use of feathers to denote divinity has a long history in Egyptian art.