
Glass bottle in the form of a bird
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Colorless. Everted, slightly thickened rim; shallow funnel mouth; cylindrical neck, merging at right angle with ovoid body, drawn out at back to form stylized tail; pushed-in bottom. Body complete, but missing part of rim and much of tail; pitting of surface bubbles and brilliant iridescence on exterior, creamy dark brown weathering on interior.
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.