Glass 'Mercury' bottle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent pale yellow green. Broad, thick rim, folded out, down, round and in, and flattened on top surface with irregular inner lip around mouth; thick-walled cylindrical neck, expanding downwards; pushed-in horizontal shoulder; square, thick-walled body, tapering downwards, with irregular patterns of shallow grooves on sides (from mold ?); almost flat bottom. In relief on bottom, standing lion, facing right, on ground line, surrounded by an indistinct pattern of wavy lines together with the inscription CEV HO DIA; above the lion's head, the letters CR are also visible. Broken around top of neck, with rim now separate, and one section of neck reattached, but body complete; some pinprick and elongated bubbles, and black impurities in rim; dulling, pitting, and patches brilliant iridescence and creamy brown weathering.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art