The Populonia Bottle

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Object Name: 
Bottle
Title: 
The Populonia Bottle
Place Made: 
Italy
Accession Number: 
62.1.31
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 18.4 cm, W: D: Diam (max): 12.3 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
probably 275-325
Web Description: 
This bottle is decorated with architectural landmarks in the Roman city of Baiae on the Bay of Naples in Italy, and was likely made as a souvenir. It was found near the ancient city of Populonia, Italy, shortly before 1812.

More Info

Department: 
Ancient
Provenance: 
Smith, Ray Winfield (American, 1897-1982), Source
1948
to
1962-11-16
Bonaparte, Elisa, Former Collection
1812
to
1813
Category: 
Roman
Color: 
green
Technique: 
glassblowing
wheel-engraving
Material: 
glass

Description

Primary Description: 
Bottle. Transparent pale green glass; blown. Globular with slender tapering neck. Rim unworked; neck expands towards body with slightly concave bottom. Wheel-engraved decoration on body, combining waterfront scenes and inscriptions. At top, "ANIMA. FELIX. VIVAS" and palm frond. Below, water; barrel-roofed building on piles, joined to similar building by bridge; above these, "STAGNV. PALATIV."; below bridge, frame supporting weighted ropes and "OSTRIARIA"; water: mole with four arches ending in prow-like feature; on the mole, building with saddle-back roof, two columns surmounted by statues of warriors and two-arched structure supporting four-horse group; in the first building, "RIPA"; between the columns "PILAE".

Exhibitions (4)

Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes, and Peasants
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass
Changing Exhibitions Gallery
Via Appia: sulle ruine della magnificenza antika (Via Appia: On the Ruins of Ancient Magnificence)
Venue(s)
Palazzo Ruspoli 1997-02-04 through 1997-06-09
Palazzo Memmo 1997-10-11 through 1998-04-10
 
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass
Venue(s)
Yokohama Museum of Art 1992-10-12 through 1992-12-13
Glass of the Caesars
Venue(s)
British Museum 1987-11-18 through 1988-03-06
Romisch-Germanisches Museum 1988-04-15 through 1988-10-18
Musei Capitolini 1988-11-03 through 1989-01-31
Corning Museum of Glass
 

Publications (52)

Osters: en natur- og kulturhistorie (2021) illustrated, p. 30 (fig. 9);
The Cultural Lives of Domestic Objects in Late Antiquity (2019) illustrated, p. 51 (fig. 19);
Ancient and Islamic Glass: Selections from the Corning Museum of Glass (2019) illustrated, pp. 78-79;
Urban Images in Glass from the Late Roman Empire: The Souvenir Flasks of Puteoli and Baiae. (2018-07) illustrated, p. 433 (fig. 3); BIB# 715750
The Decanter: Ancient to Modern (2018) illustrated, p. 38 (fig. 1);
Oyster: A Global History (2017) illustrated, p. 35; BIB# 166384
Die römischen Gläser aus Augst und Kaiseraugst : kommentierter Formenkatalog und ausgewählte Neufunde 1981-2010 aus Augusta Raurica (2015) illustrated, p. 102, Abb. 130; BIB# 150178
Shanghai bo li bo wu guan = Shanghai Museum of Glass (2014) illustrated, p. 102; BIB# 149066
Poseidon and the Sea (2014) illustrated, p. 100; BIB# 134837
Ostreiculture et mytiliculture a l'epoque romaine? Des definitions modernes a l’epreuve de l’archeologie (2013-10) illustrated, p. 378; BIB# AI96909
Saveurs antiques "A table avec les Gallo-romains" (2013) illustrated, p. 19;
Die Thermen der Romer (2013) illustrated, p. 102; BIB# 135236
Glass: A Short History (Smithsonian Books edition) (2012) illustrated, pp. 36-37; BIB# 130360
Glass: A Short History (The British Museum edition) (2012) illustrated, pp. 36-37; BIB# 135965
The History of Aquaculture (2011) illustrated, p. 22; BIB# 125886
Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes, and Peasants (2010) illustrated, pp. 92-93, #1; BIB# 115588
A Study of Iconography on Roman Glass around the 4th Century: Christian saints on the "vetri dorati" and cityscapes of Puteoli and Baiae on the "Populonia flasf group (2009) illustrated, p. 185, p. 232,, p. 236, p. 238; color plate 4, fig. 12; BIB# 136075
Historie du Verre: L'Antiquite (2005) illustrated, p. 149; BIB# 76552
Antikes Glas (Handbuch der Archaologie) (2004) illustrated, p. 417 (Taf. 336); BIB# 83444
The Decanter: An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650 (2004) illustrated, p. 33, pl. 32; BIB# 67221
Romantic Interlude (2003) illustrated, p. 55;
387 d.c./ambrogio e agostino/le sorgenti dell'europa (2003) illustrated, p. 185, fig. 2; pp. 183-184; BIB# 78110
An Iconographical Study of Baiae Group Flasks: Are Vaulted Buildings Fishponds or Not? (2003) illustrated, pp. 73-77; p. 74, fig. 1; p. 75, fig. 3; p. 76, fig. 4; BIB# AI57271
Zu Tisch bei den alten Romern: Eine Kulturgeschichte des Essens und Trinkens (2001) p. 59; BIB# 73439
The Corning Museum of Glass, A Guide to the Collections (2001) (2001) illustrated, p. 39; BIB# 68214
A Venerable Keepsake: Souvenirs from Ancient Rome (1999) illustrated, p. 64; BIB# AI44569
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass: Checklist of the Exhibition (1999) illustrated, p. 25; BIB# 63967
Le vin romain antique (1999) illustrated, p. 21, fig. 20; BIB# 64132
Via Appia: sulle ruine della magnificenza antica (1997) illustrated, p. 103; BIB# 148848
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, Volume One (1997) p. 221; pp. 270-272, #458A-C, p. 377, #458A-B; BIB# 58895
Enciclopedia Dell'Arte Antica, classica e orientale (1997) illustrated, p. 1025, fig. 1301, left;
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass (1992) illustrated, p. 25, #16; p. 246; BIB# 35679
La Cuisine Romaine Antique (1992) illustrated, p. 169, fig. 211;
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History From The Corning Museum of Glass (1990) illustrated, pp. 54-55, pl. 19; BIB# 33819
A Short History of Glass (1990 edition) (1990) illustrated, p. 28; p. 31, #21`; BIB# 33211
Glass Of The Roman Empire (1988) illustrated, pp. 48-49, fig. 20; pp. 7, 9; BIB# 32608
Glass of the Caesars (1987) illustrated, pp. 208-209, #116; BIB# 31831
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (postcards) (1987) illustrated, #19; BIB# 34348
Title Unknown (Ann Arbor News) (1982-11-21)
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History from The Corning Museum of Glass (1980) pp. 54-55, pl. 19; BIB# 20953
A Short History of Glass (1980 edition) (1980) illustrated, p. 29, #21; BIB# 21161
Roman Flasks with Scenes of Baiae and Puteoli (1975) illustrated, pp. 54-55, fig. 1;
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1974) (1974) illustrated, p. 22, #20; BIB# 28793
Title Unknown (Burlington) (1973-12) pl. XI;
Abraded and Engraved Late Roman Glass from Portugal (1970) illustrated, pp. 30-32, fig. 8; BIB# AI83282
Underwater Discoveries around the Bay of Naples (1967) illustrated, pp. 212-214; BIB# AI84751
Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass: A Guide to the Collections (1965) (1965) illustrated, p. 22, #20; BIB# 27582
History Revealed in Ancient Glass (1964-09) illustrated, pp. 355, 369; BIB# AI46886
Recent Important Acquisitions, 5 (1963) p. 143, #15; BIB# AI87079
Exhibition of Glass from Private American Collections and the Smithsonian Institution, 10 July through 8 August 1962, first floor Natural History Building / Smithsonian Institution. (1962) no. 111; BIB# 19761
Glass from the Ancient World: The Ray Winfield Smith Collection (1957) illustrated, pp. 172-175, #353; BIB# 27315
Das Glas im Altertume (III) (1908) pp. 640-646; BIB# 27426