Glass amphoriskos with horizontal ribs

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent greenish yellow, with handles in cobalt blue. Tubular rim folded out, over, and in, and flattened into flaring mouth; cylindrical neck, the lower third of which is indented from mold; elongated ovoid body, tapering to pointed bottom; two rod handles attached to upper body in large claw pads, drawn up and turned in, then pressed onto sides of neck. One continuous mold seam around body, extending onto lower part of neck, misaligned on one side. Body decorated with twenty-six concentric, slightly slanting ribs. Intact, except for hole in bottom; few bubbles; slight dulling and faint iridescence on exterior, encrustation and iridescent weathering on interior. Many examples of this type of small mold-blown glass bottle are known from the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea areas. Its shape resembles that of large terracotta jars, but horizontal ribbing is not usually found on Roman transport amphorae of the 1st century A.D.

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