Glass aryballos (oil bottle)

3rd century CE
Not on view
Translucent pale green with blue tinge; handles in same color.
Thick everted rim, folded over, in, and down, forming restriction to mouth; cylindrical neck; narrow horizontal shoulder; globular body; slightly concave bottom with small pontil mark off-center; two ring handles attached in a large, thick pad to top of body, across shoulder, and up neck. Two mold seams visible on sides of body.
The underside of the rim is decorated with radiating tooled indents; on body, thirteen rows of small hollow lozenges and a series of vertical raised lines, extending from bottom row of lozenges on undercurve.
Broken, with one third of rim and part of neck and one handle missing, cracks in body, and one deep chip in lower side; some bubbles and striations; dulling, faint iridescence, and slight soil encrustation on exterior, iridescent weathering on interior, which is largely filled with a loose ball of soil.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Glass aryballos (oil bottle)
  • Period: Late Imperial
  • Date: 3rd century CE
  • Culture: Roman
  • Medium: Glass; blown in a two-part mold
  • Dimensions: H.: 3 3/4 x 3 1/4 in. (9.5 x 8.3 cm)
  • Classification: Glass
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.194.236
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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