Glass hexagonal bottle

Unknown

1st half of 1st century CE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Opaque white. Rim folded out, round, and in, with slightly beveled upper lip; flaring mouth; cylindrical neck; convex curving shoulder; hexagonal body with vertical sides, then cup-shaped below; low base with rounded edge and uneven, slightly indented bottom. Mold seams run from base of neck, down sides, and meet at center of bottom. Decoration in three registers: on shoulder, in blurred relief, six floral motifs; on body, six rectangular panels, each framed at sides with posts or slender columns, and bordered below by a blurred egg-and-dart band; in each panel, a frontal theatrical mask; above the base, alternating rounded and pointed leaves in blurred relief. Signs of cracking and distortion of mold visible on two of the panels. Intact; patches of dulling, thick creamy weathering, and iridescence. The panels are decorated with a series of six masks, identified as a Medusa, a horned Pan, two bearded men, a youth, and a woman.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st half of 1st century CE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917