Glassblowing, invented in the late first century B.C., revolutionized not only the way glass vessels were made but also how and by whom they were used. Much more efficient than earlier techniques, such as casting, this new technology enabled workshops to produce more vessels in a wider variety of shapes with less time and effort than ever before. Glass ceased to be employed exclusively for making luxury items and became a standard Roman household material, both for tableware, such as cups, dishes, and serving vessels, and for containers that held perfumes and cosmetics.

While much blown glassware was left undecorated, by the first century A.D. glassmakers were experimenting with various strategies to enliven the forms they produced. Two such strategies are illustrated by the small two-handled vessels pictured here, one relying on vibrant colors, the other on three-dimensional designs.

The craftsman who made the multicolored bottle used a decorative technique in which a partly inflated gather of molten blue glass was rolled over small chips of white and yellow glass, which became fused by heat to the surface; when the vessel was inflated further to create the desired shape, the chips of glass stretched, creating a splatterlike effect.

The maker of the white bottle utilized a variation of the basic glassblowing technique, known as mold blowing. By blowing glass into a mold carved with designs, a glassmaker could fashion a vessel with the equivalent motifs raised in relief on its outer surface. Mold-blown ornaments, often imitative of decoration seen on more expensive silver vessels, ranged in design from floral patterns to inscriptions to simple narrative scenes. This bottle is also distinctive in the way its delicate "floating" handles are attached only at their upper ends, a peculiarity linking it with other vessels apparently manufactured by the same workshop.

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