Bottle

9th–10th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 453
The miniature size of this bottle, measuring just under four centimeters tall, suggests that it was intended to hold cosmetic powder or perhaps ink: valuable materials used in small quantities. The idea that it held a relatively valuable material is also echoed in the quality of its material, for it is made out of a slightly-greenish transparent glass of good craftsmanship. This piece was purchased at Nishapur by the archaeologists who led the Metropolitan Museum’s excavations at the site. The excavations themselves yielded many bottles of roughly the same shape and proportions.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bottle
  • Date: 9th–10th century
  • Geography: Probably from Iran, Nishapur
  • Medium: Glass; free blown
  • Dimensions: H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1937
  • Object Number: 37.40.8
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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Bottle - The Metropolitan Museum of Art