Glass 'Felix' bottle

Roman Britain, 3rd century AD
From Faversham, Kent

A container with the manufacturer's name

Glass bottles were mass-produced containers. The common square form was a particularly practical form of packaging, but other shapes were also made. The bottles were blown into moulds and so patterns and, sometimes, the manufacturer's name could easily be incorporated on the base.

Bottles of this cylindrical, slightly barrel-shaped form are often called 'Frontinus bottles' after the name most often found on them. The example shown here, however, was made by a glassmaker named Felix.

D.B. Harden and others, The British Museum: masterpiec (London, 1968)