Glass Pyxis in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2008

Glass Pyxis (from Six Glass Vessels)
Roman, mold-blown, 1st century AD

Accession # 17.194.238

The mold-blowing technique was developed sometime after the invention of free-blowing. The earliest examples were probably made in Syria, but craftsmen soon set up workshops in Italy and elsewhere, and mold-blown glassware became very popular throughout the Empire. Many of the small vessels-- cups, beakers, perfume bottles, and other containers, such as the opaque white lidded pyxis displayed here (17.194.238) -- were decorated with attractive relief designs.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.