Glass 'Mercury' bottle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent pale green. Cylindrical neck, expanding downwards; slightly pushed-in horizontal shoulder; square, thick-walled body, tapering downwards; slightly concave bottom. In relief on bottom, cloaked standing figure, facing left, holding torch-like object in right hand and left arm bent across chest; in each corner, a large capital letter: G F H I. Broken around neck (with weathered edges), with upper half of neck and rim missing, one large crack running from neck to upper body; many pinprick bubbles; dulling, pitting, and patches brilliant iridescence and black enamel-like weathering. Flasks of this type have a base stamp, comprising four Latin letters (GFHI) around a central draped figure, here identified as Mercury holding an attribute.

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