Pear-shaped Bottle

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Object Name: 
Pear-shaped Bottle
Place Made: 
Sasanian Empire
possibly southern Caucasus
possibly Mesopotamia
Accession Number: 
62.1.4
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 20.2 cm, Diam (max): 10.4 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
perhaps 300-599
Primary Description: 
Bottle. Transparent pale yellowish brown, with few small bubbles. Blown and cut. Bottle: pear-shaped. Rim is horizontal flange with rounded lip; wall splays and then curves down and in; very narrow base consisting of hollow circular facet. Wall is completely covered with all-over pattern of 16 horizontal bands of contiguous hollow facets arranged as follows: (from top to bottom) two rows of tall, rather narrow oval facets; two rows of roughly oval facets, some of which have sections of straight edge and tend toward hexagons; ten rows of hexagons arranged in quincunx; one row of roughly circular facets, some of which have sections of straight edge and tend toward hexagons; one row of large circular facets. At center of base, small circular perforation.

More Info

Department: 
Ancient
Provenance: 
Mahboubian, Mehdi (Iranian, 1921-2005), Source
1962
Category: 
Sasanian
Color: 
light yellowish brown
Technique: 
glassblowing
tooling
grinding
cutting
Material: 
glass

Exhibitions (3)

Splendeur des Sassanides
Venue(s)
Musees Royaux d' Art et d' Histoire 1993-02-11 through 1993-05-25
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass
Venue(s)
Yokohama Museum of Art 1992-10-12 through 1992-12-13
 
The Art of Glass: Masterpieces from The Corning Museum of Glass
Venue(s)
IBM Gallery 1989-12-12 through 1990-02-02
National Gallery of Art 1990-12-09 through 1991-04-14
Decorative and utilitarian works from the Corning Museum of Glass, surveying 35 centuries of glass-making technology and stylistic developments from ancient Egyptian, Roman, Islamic, and Asian cultures to contemporary American and European examples. The works were selected by Corning Museum staff members Dwight P. Lanmon, director and curator of European glass; David B. Whitehouse, curator of ancient and Islamic glass; Jane Shadel Spillman, curator of American glass; and Susanne K. Frantz, curator of 20th-century glass.

Publications (24)

Ancient and Islamic Glass: Selections from the Corning Museum of Glass (2019) illustrated, pp. 86-87;
Glass along the Silk Road from 200 BC to AD 1000 (2010) illustrated, p. 109; BIB# 120363
Disentangling Material Cultures: Late Roman and Sasanian Facet Cut Glassware in Late Antiquity (2006) illustrated, p. 127, fig. 6; BIB# 80238
Les Perses sassanides (2006) pp. 148-149, #92; BIB# 94091
Sasanian and Post-Sasanian Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (2005) illustrated, pp. 54-56, #65; BIB# 88262
Zhongguo gu dai bo li ji shu de fa zhan (Development of Chinese Ancient Glass) (2005) illustrated, p. 4 (4.16); BIB# 90520
Y'oroppa amerika no ant'iku garasu : shiru, kau, kataru, kansh'osura (2002) illustrated, p. 123; BIB# 74885
Clearly Inspired: Contemporary Glass and Its Origins (1999) illustrated, p. 19; BIB# 61797
Chemical Analyses of Early Glasses (Volume 2) (1999) p. 159; BIB# 61154
Chemical Analyses of Early Glasses (Volume 1) (1999) pp. 84, 249; BIB# 61154
Splendeur des Sassanides: L'Empire Perse Entre Rome et la Chine (224-642) (1993) p. 257, #105; BIB# 44532
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass (1992) illustrated, p. 28, #18; BIB# 35679
The Survey of Glass in the World (1992) illustrated, (no. 186), p. 92, 289-290; BIB# 44518
Masterpieces of Glass by R. Charleston, Book Review (1991) p. 55;
Reviews: Masterpieces of Glass : a World History from The Corning Museum of Glass by Robert Charleston (1991) p. 58, ill.;
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History From The Corning Museum of Glass (1990) illustrated, pp. 64-65, pl. 24; BIB# 33819
The History of Glass (1989 edition) (1989) illustrated, p. 38; BIB# 150278
The History of Glass (1984 edition) (1984) illustrated, p. 38; BIB# 22683
Le Nouveau Musee du verre a Corning (1980) p. 55, #6;
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History from The Corning Museum of Glass (1980) pp. 64-65, pl. 24; BIB# 20953
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1974) (1974) illustrated, p. 25, #26; BIB# 28793
A Tribute to Persia, Persian Glass (1972) illustrated, p. 11, no. 11; BIB# 65782
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1965) (1965) illustrated, p. 25, #26; BIB# 27582
Recent Important Acquisitions, 5 (1963) pp. 144-145, #18; BIB# AI87079