An article holder (120; 220) for holding a longitudinal end portion of a cylindrical article (10; 20) in a packaging container, the article holder (120; 220) comprising: an upper face and a lower face facing up and down, respectively, when the article holder (120; 220) is disposed inside the packaging container; an inner face and an outer face facing a center side and an outer side, respectively, in a longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) when the article holder (120; 220) is disposed inside the packaging container; and at least one first article receiver formed in the upper face of the article holder (120; 220) to support a lower side of the end portion of the cylindrical article (10; 20), the first article receiver including, a first recess semilunar in vertical cross section, forming a semilunar opening in the inner face of the article holder (120; 220) and a rectangular opening in the upper face of the article holder (120; 220), the rectangular opening continuous with the semilunar opening, and a first arc-shaped projection projecting from an inner circumferential surface of the first recess, having a radius smaller than a radius of the first recess; characterised in that: the first article receiver further comprises a shelf on an identical plane with the upper face of the article holder (120; 220), whereby the first recess extends partially from the inner face of the article holder (120; 220) towards the outer face in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) to be supported, such that the shelf is positioned outside the first recess and, thus, between the first recess and the outer face in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) to be supported. an upper face and a lower face facing up and down, respectively, when the article holder (120; 220) is disposed inside the packaging container; an inner face and an outer face facing a center side and an outer side, respectively, in a longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) when the article holder (120; 220) is disposed inside the packaging container; and at least one first article receiver formed in the upper face of the article holder (120; 220) to support a lower side of the end portion of the cylindrical article (10; 20), the first article receiver including, a first recess semilunar in vertical cross section, forming a semilunar opening in the inner face of the article holder (120; 220) and a rectangular opening in the upper face of the article holder (120; 220), the rectangular opening continuous with the semilunar opening, and a first arc-shaped projection projecting from an inner circumferential surface of the first recess, having a radius smaller than a radius of the first recess; characterised in that: the first article receiver further comprises a shelf on an identical plane with the upper face of the article holder (120; 220), whereby the first recess extends partially from the inner face of the article holder (120; 220) towards the outer face in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) to be supported, such that the shelf is positioned outside the first recess and, thus, between the first recess and the outer face in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) to be supported. the first article receiver further comprises a shelf on an identical plane with the upper face of the article holder (120; 220), whereby the first recess extends partially from the inner face of the article holder (120; 220) towards the outer face in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) to be supported, such that the shelf is positioned outside the first recess and, thus, between the first recess and the outer face in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical article (10; 20) to be supported.