Amphoriskos (Container for Oil)
1st century
Medium
Glass, mold-blown
Dimensions
10.5 × 4.5 × 4.5 cm (4 1/8 × 1 3/4 × 1 3/4 in.)
Classification
container
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
67508
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Shortly after glassblowing was invented in the Eastern Mediterranean in the first century BCE, enterprising glassmakers created a shaping technique known as moldblowing, in which they inflated a bubble of molten glass within a mold. This process enabled rapid production and promoted the development of new vessel shapes and sizes.
About the Artist
Ancient Roman
The artists attributed to "Ancient Roman" in museum collections represent the anonymous craftsmen who produced the vast output of sculpture, frescoes, mosaics, and reliefs defining Roman visual culture from the Republic (c. 509–27 BCE) to the late Empire (c. 395 CE). Individual identities remain elusive, as Roman makers were typically viewed as skilled tradesmen—often enslaved Greeks or provincial...