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Bottle, 18th–19th century
Iran
Glass, mold-blown, free-blown, and tooled; H. 15 in. (38.1 cm), Max. Diam. 4 3/8 in. (11 cm)
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.829)

Long-necked bottles are among the few types of glass vessels produced in Iran after the seventeenth century, as local production was gradually being replaced by European imports. Pieces dating from this period, influenced by Venetian models, are typically very graceful in shape, this "swan-neck" bottle being an accomplished example. Nineteenth-century works also bear a minimum of surface decoration; the most common form is a mold-blown pattern of fine twisted ribs, such as on this piece. It is unclear how bottles of this shape were used, though sometimes they are known as ashkdans and were supposedly for collecting the tears of wives whose husbands were away at war.


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    Bottle, 18th–19th century
    Iran
    Glass, mold-blown, free-blown, and tooled; H. 15 in. (38.1 cm), Max. Diam. 4 3/8 in. (11 cm)
    Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.829)