Fashionable forms of small pottery cups during the 1st century A.D.

Small Cups

“Hearing a practiced diner say, ‘What treasure have we here?’ I poked through the shell with my finger and found a plump bird rolled up in spiced yolk of egg.” (Petronius, Satyricon.34)

A wide variety of small glass cups were free- and mold-blown during the 1st century A.D., mimicking the rim and base forms of contemporary pottery cups in many ingenious ways. Scenes of Roman dining suggest these cups were used to hold dipping sauces or olives amid a platter of appetizers such as boiled eggs, roasted artichokes, and pig’s feet.

All glassware is shown at a scale of one-to-one unless otherwise stated.

86-35-16
Provenance unknown
First half of 1st century A.D.
Opaque white
Gift of George & Henry J. Vaux

86-35-77
Provenance unknown
Mid 1st century A.D.
Bluish colorless
Gift of George & Henry J. Vaux

86-35-78
Provenance unknown
Mid 1st century A.D.
Claret red
Gift of George & Henry J. Vaux

MS 4955
Possibly from Aleppo (Syria)
Mid 1st century A.D.
Dark blue
Purchased from Vestor & Co.

MS 5002
Provenance unknown
Mid 1st century A.D.
Royal blue
Purchased from Vestor & Co.

MS 5561
Provenance unknown
Early 1st century A.D.
Emerald green
Gift of Lydia T. Morris

MS 5568
Provenance unknown
Mid 1st century A.D.
Opaque red
Gift of Lydia T. Morris

MS 5543
Provenance unknown
3rd century A.D.
Light green
Gift of Lydia T. Morris

32-15-63
From Beth Shean (Israel), tomb 295
Late 4th century A.D.
Bluish colorless
Excavated by G.M. Fitzgerald

29-105-738
From Beth Shean (Israel), tomb 211
Late 4th century A.D.
Light green
Excavated by G.M. Fitzgerald

29-105-739
From Beth Shean (Israel), tomb 211
Late 4th century A.D.
Light green
Excavated by G.M. Fitzgerald