Rock crystal bottle
Not on view
Craftsmen in Egypt and the Near East began making vessels out of rock crystal as early as the Early Bronze Age. The tradition was passed on to the great empires of the Classical world and persisted until late antiquity. The shapes of two of the examples (74.51.3599, 74.51.3600) are unusual and so are difficult to date. Despite their plain forms, they remain fine examples of the stonecutter's skill, for they are carved out of solid blocks of crystal. Above all, it was the almost transparent quality of the rock crystal that made such vessels highly prized luxury objects.
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