THREE UMAYYAD HOT-WORKED GLASS BOTTLES Syria, 7th - 8th century Comprising three free-blown and hot-worked glass bottles, possibly used as essential oils and perfumed water containers, two of globular shape, resting on a circular foot, with applied decorative roundels recessed to the centre, the third pyriform, on a concave base and with a band of applied geometric lattice to the centre, the tallest 9cm high. The production of this type of glass containers has been attributed to the same Syrian workshop that created the so-called cage flasks. Rarely exceeding a height of 10 centimetres, these bottles were often decorated with whimsical geometric patterns in either the same colour of the vessels or in a contrasting colour, as it is the case of our tall flask. For similar examples, please see Stefano Carboni, Glass of the Sultans, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001, pp. 114 - 115, cats. 33 - 34.