Glass mosaic bottle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent cobalt blue, almost opaque deep purple, and opaque white. Everted, horizontal rim with angular outer lip; cylindrical neck, tapering downward, with slight horizontal indent around base; squat globular body; slightly indented bottom. Marbled mosaic pattern formed from alternating sections of two canes: the first in a blue ground with white parallel lines in a irregular zigzag pattern; the second in a purple ground also with white parallel lines in a irregular zigzag pattern. Intact, except for one chip in underside of rim; dulling, pitting, and faint iridescence. Rotary grinding marks on exterior.

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