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Bottle
2nd-3rd century
- Medium
- Glass, blown technique
- Classification
- Vessel
- Dimensions
- 12.2 × 8.9 × 8.9 cm (4 3/4 × 3 1/2 × 3 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Syria
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Credit line
- Gift of Theodore W. and Frances S. Robinson
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Iridescent Glass The iridescent sheen on this bottle, an artificially created effect sought after by 19th-century glassmaking innovators such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, was not actually intended by or known to their makers. Because of their association with luxury and precious oils and perfumes, these vessels were often buried with their owners in tombs, the chemical conditions of which, over time, have caused the surfaces to deteriorate, resulting in the shimmering, often opalescent, hues that appeal to the modern eye.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0