Glass two-handled bottle (amphora)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent purple, with same color handles. Everted rim, folded over, in and down into mouth; cylindrical neck, flaring at base to join sloping shoulder; elongated piriform body, tapering to pointed base with rounded end; two strap handles with vertical ribbing attached to shoulder, drawn up vertically, turned inward, one in a curve, the other at a right angle, and trailed on to neck below rim. Intact; minor patches of soil encrustation; some dulling and iridescent weathering. This deep purple vase is remarkable for its size and elegant simplicity. No close parallel is known, but it may be regarded as a rare masterpiece of early Roman blown glass.

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