Provenance
by 1974 - 1988
Erwin Oppenländer, 1901 - 1988 (Waiblingen, Germany), by inheritance to his son, Gert Oppenländer, 1988.
1988 - 2003
Gert Oppenländer (Waiblingen, Germany), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.
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Not on view due to temporary Getty closure
Beaker
Unknown
Roman
Eastern Mediterranean (Place Created)
1st century A.D.
Glass
2003.320
21.2 cm (8 3/8 in.)
Although this amber-colored beaker looks remarkably contemporary, it was made almost 2000 years ago. The high-relief knobs decorating the body of the glass represent
Prior to the discovery of glassblowing techniques, glassmakers poured or pressed molten glass into molds to create thick vessels. But this vessel is mold-blown glass. The artist gathered a blob of molten glass on the end of a hollow metal tube, which he then blew into to inflate the glass. Glassblowing the object created its unique shape, and made it lighter and thinner than if it had been cast. The mold used to make this beaker had four parts: three side panels and a base section. Mold seams are still visible.
The sharp-edged lip of this beaker indicates it was never used for drinking. More likely, it was a gift to the dead--and buried with a body.
Erwin Oppenländer, 1901 - 1988 (Waiblingen, Germany), by inheritance to his son, Gert Oppenländer, 1988.
Gert Oppenländer (Waiblingen, Germany), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.
Saldern, Axel von, et al. Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer, exh. cat. (Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 1974), p.166, no. 455.
Stern, E. Marianne. Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, exh. cat. (Toledo, OH: The Toledo Museum of Art, with "L'Erma" Di Bretschneider, 1995), p. 106n7d.