Sui Dynasty

Height: 12.5 cm

Unearthed in 1957 from the tomb of Li Jingxun, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province

Both the mouth and the cross-section of the body of this glass bottle are oval in shape. It was made using a blowing technique, with extremely thin walls that are crystal-clear and jade-like. While its form follows traditional Chinese shapes, analysis shows that its material is high-lead glass, indicating that it was manufactured in China.

A total of 24 glass objects were excavated from the tomb of Li Jingxun, including cups, jars, flattened bottles, neckless bottles, tubular objects, and small bead-like oval items. The wide range of vessel types and their clearly dated context reflect the level of glassmaking during the Sui Dynasty. Glass produced in the Sui period fell into two main categories: one developed from traditional Chinese techniques, characterized by high lead content and commonly referred to as lead glass, the other, influenced by Western techniques, employed higher sodium-calcium content, producing soda-lime glass, such as the blue and green small cups and neckless bottles found in the same tomb. Together, these glass objects demonstrate that Chinese glassmaking had entered a new stage of development.