Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA.
1988.05.004

Small Vial

200 BCE – 101 BCE (Date created)
Glass
Blown glass
Vials
3.25 in H (Object)
Notes: 1 in at lip; 2,75 inches at neck
8.2 cm H (Object)
Roman;Syrian
Small globular bottle with pinched nodules decorating the exterior in 3 registers or bands. Bottle is painted gold, though exterior has bettina from mineralization due to exposure to soils. Neck is cylindrical and short with a flat lip that flares at a 90 degree angle and out by 1/4".
Much of the ancient glass of Syrian and Persian origin is at times classified as Roman because Rome controlled these areas during the reign of Julius Caesar. Roman efforts at blowing glass resulted in bottles or flasks of simple shapes with a fre-blown bulbous body, a longish cylindrical neck and a projecting rim. Mostly all were made without handles. So-called tear bottles, small club-formed vials, were supposedly receptacles for the tears of mourners and are common funerary finds
- exhibition label from Marjory Pikunas
In Collection
Bought from R. H. Macy on June 29 1931
Please note that cataloging is ongoing and that some information may not be complete.