Glass hexagonal bottle
Opaque white.
Rim folded out, round, and in, then pressed into flaring mouth; misshapen cylindrical neck; downward sloping shoulder; hexagonal body with vertical sides, then cup-shaped below; low base with rounded edge and slightly indented bottom. Mold seams run from base of neck, down sides, and meet at center of bottom.
Decoration in relief in three registers: on shoulder, six downturned rays or pointed petals; on body, six rectangular panels, each decorated at top with a triangular pediment flanked by prominent but indistinct round objects, framed at sides with posts or slender columns, and bordered below by an egg-and-dart band; in each panel, a different bird perched on or flying over a nest or rock; above the base, twenty-seven upturned tongues (nine in each segment of mold).
Intact; pitting, dulling, and thick creamy weathering.
This bottle belongs to a type known as the Bird Series because the figures depicted in the pedimented panels appear to be birds perched on or flying over a nest or rock. It is a relatively rare type, although several of the surviving examples are made (as here) in opaque white glass.
Rim folded out, round, and in, then pressed into flaring mouth; misshapen cylindrical neck; downward sloping shoulder; hexagonal body with vertical sides, then cup-shaped below; low base with rounded edge and slightly indented bottom. Mold seams run from base of neck, down sides, and meet at center of bottom.
Decoration in relief in three registers: on shoulder, six downturned rays or pointed petals; on body, six rectangular panels, each decorated at top with a triangular pediment flanked by prominent but indistinct round objects, framed at sides with posts or slender columns, and bordered below by an egg-and-dart band; in each panel, a different bird perched on or flying over a nest or rock; above the base, twenty-seven upturned tongues (nine in each segment of mold).
Intact; pitting, dulling, and thick creamy weathering.
This bottle belongs to a type known as the Bird Series because the figures depicted in the pedimented panels appear to be birds perched on or flying over a nest or rock. It is a relatively rare type, although several of the surviving examples are made (as here) in opaque white glass.
Artwork Details
- Title: Glass hexagonal bottle
- Period: Early Imperial, Julio-Claudian
- Date: ca. 25–50 CE
- Culture: Roman
- Medium: Glass; blown in a three-part mold
- Dimensions: H.: 3 in. (7.6 cm)
- Classification: Glass
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1906
- Object Number: 06.1035.1
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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