Glass bottle shaped like a bunch of grapes
3rd century A.D.
Glass; blown in a three-part mold
H. 15.24 cm.
Translucent blue green.Rim folded out, round, and in, and pressed into flaring mouth; cylindrical neck expanding downwards, with slight horizontal tooled indent around base; shoulder sloping down and out, with hollow projecting roll below; ovoid body; low cylindrical base, with concave bottom. Pontil scar at center of bottom. Body blown into a three-part mold of two vertical sections, extending from base to top of body, and a disk-shaped base section.On body, a pattern of stylized grapes comprising eleven interlocking rows of twenty-two unevenly-spaced hemispherical knobs, and at top two indistinct leaves opposite each other, centered between the mold seams; on bottom, three narrow raised concentric circles.Intact; many bubbles; patches of dulling, pitting, and iridescent weathering.
Bottles, jars, and handled jugs whose body is made in the shape of a stylized bunch of grapes have been found mainly in the Syro-Palestinian area. One bottle, for example, is known from a rock-cut tomb at Nazareth. But pieces are also known from Egypt, Carthage, and even Aksum in Ethiopia.
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