Antiquities Discussion Forums > Ancient Glass

The Beauty of Bottles

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Enodia:
I never really considered bottles as particularly esthetic until my wife began collecting nouveau and deco perfume bottles. Some of those Tiffany and Lalique pieces were magnificent! But she also started collecting ancient glass and I became surprisingly impressed with the style and craftsmanship of these bottles and such, which I had quite mistakenly thought of as primitive before. They were anything but!
I have since donated her small collection of antiquities to the Hallie Ford Museum here in Salem, and I shall post the glass items here, hoping you enjoy them too.

First up is a very small bottle which is so fine and frail that it amazes me how it survived the centuries intact...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=64701

~ Peter


 Available from the Forvm shop;
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=1552

Enodia:
This next bottle is known as a candlestick unguentarium, and I love the gorgeous green mottling on this example. Unguentaria are sometimes called 'tear bottles', the thinking being that they were used to gather and store tears. Far more likely is the notion that they were used to hold oils and perfumes...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=42036

~ Peter

Kamnaskires:
These are really wonderful examples. Elegant and beautifully proportioned forms. Thanks for sharing.

Enodia:
Thank you Robert!  🙂 

Barely relevant here, but this quote from Tom Waits just came to mind...
"I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy."
    😄

~ Peter

Enodia:
This is the third and last of my wife's ancient bottles. This one is known as a test tube unguentarium,  for obvious reasons. With no base to allow it to stand on its own I guess the owner would have some kind of stand to keep it upright...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=42035

These are all I've got, but I  would love to see your ancient glass in any form
Post away!

~ Peter

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