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The J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection of ancient glass—astonishingly delicate, richly hued, and fancifully shaped—is among the most celebrated in the United States. Ranging from the Bronze Age to the medieval period (1500 BCE–1000 CE), the 584 objects included in this publication originated from a wide geographical area, including the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and central Europe.

This catalogue, written by acclaimed scholar Anastassios Antonaras, begins with a fascinating essay on the history of glassmaking—a highly technical art form that is still practiced similarly today—and continues with detailed and informative entries on the works. Each entry is accompanied by vivid photography. The book also includes a history of the collection, glossary of glassmaking terms, technical study, and full bibliography.

Citation Information

Chicago

Antonaras, Anastassios. Ancient Glass in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2025. https://www.getty.edu/publications/ancient-glass/.

MLA

Antonaras, Anastassios. Ancient Glass in the J. Paul Getty Museum. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2025, https://www.getty.edu/publications/ancient-glass/. Accessed DD Mon. YYYY.

Permanent URL

https://www.getty.edu/publications/ancient-glass/

Revision History

Any revisions or corrections made to this publication after the first edition date will be listed in detail in the project repository at https://github.com/thegetty/ancient-glass. The revisions branch of the project repository, when present, will show any changes currently under consideration but not yet published here.

April 8, 2025

  • First edition

Other Formats

Copyright

This publication was created using Quire™, a multiformat publishing tool from Getty.

© 2025 J. Paul Getty Trust

Unless otherwise indicated, the text and images of this work are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Unless otherwise indicated, the text and images of this work are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

The section titled “An Introduction to the History and Technology of Ancient Glass Production” is adapted from “A History of Ancient Glassmaking,” originally published in Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton Art Museum by Anastassios Antonaras, © 2012 Trustees of Princeton University.

Published by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Getty Publications
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500
Los Angeles, California 90049-1682
getty.edu/publications

  • Ruth Evans Lane, Project Editor

  • Kerri Cox Sullivan, Manuscript Editor

  • Dani Grossman, Cover Design

  • Molly McGeehan, Production

  • Danielle Brink, Image and Rights Acquisition

  • Greg Albers, Digital Publications Manager

  • Erin Cecele Dunigan, Digital Project Lead

  • Jenny Park, Digital Production

  • Kate Justement and Alex Hallenbeck, Digital Assistants

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  • Names: J. Paul Getty Museum, author. | Antonaras, Anastassios C., author.
  • Title: Ancient glass in the J. Paul Getty Museum / Anastassios Antonaras.
  • Description: First edition. | Los Angeles : J. Paul Getty Museum, 2025. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: “This illustrated book catalogues the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection of ancient glass”— Provided by publisher.
  • Identifiers: LCCN 2024037436 (print) | LCCN 2024037437 (ebook) | ISBN 9781606069196 (paperback) | ISBN 9781606069219 (pdf) | ISBN 9781606069202 (epub) | ISBN 9781606069226
  • Subjects: LCSH: J. Paul Getty Museum—Catalogs. | Glassware, Ancient—Catalogs. | Glassware—California—Los Angeles—Catalogs. | LCGFT: Collection catalogs.
  • Classification: LCC NK5107 .J25 2025 (print) | LCC NK5107 (ebook) | DDC 748.074/79494—dc23/eng/20240926
  • LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024037436
  • LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024037437

Front cover: Clockwise from top left: Bowl (cat. 239), Flask (cat. 396), Flask (cat. 153), Sprinkler Flask (cat. 347), Date-Shaped Unguentarium (cat. 195), Head Jug (cat. 182), Gold-Band Flask (cat. 146), Flask (cat. 363), Flask (cat. 270), Mosaic Bowl (cat. 90), Discoid Mosaic Face Bead (cat. 535), Fragment of a Mosaic Inlay with Floral Motif (cat. 453), Alabastron (cat. 117), Cameo Glass Skyphos (cat. 82)

Illustration Credits

Every effort has been made to contact the owners and photographers of illustrations reproduced here whose names do not appear in the captions or listed below. Anyone having further information concerning copyright holders is asked to contact Getty Publications so this information can be included in future printings.
Fig. 1: From
Fig. 2: Institutional Archives, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2010.IA.04)
Fig. 3: Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive: “Julie Frazier standing next to case of objects.” January 24, 1958. (Collection 1429. Box 328. Neg. #108387). UCLA Library Special Collections
Fig. 4: Académie florimontane, 2013-155198
Fig. 11: From , p. 33, fig. 59
Fig. 12: From , p. 42, fig. 42
Fig. 13: From Schuler, F. “Ancient Glassmaking Techniques 1: The Molding Process.” Archaeology 12 (1959): p. 48
Fig. 14: From , p. 42
Fig. 15: From , p. 30
Fig. 16: From , p. 32
Fig. 17: Courtesy of Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico. From Meconcelli Notarianni, Gioia, and Daniela Ferrari. Vetri Antichi: Arte e Tecnica. Exh. cat. Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, 1998, p. 13
Fig. 18: Courtesy of Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico. From Meconcelli Notarianni, Gioia, and Daniela Ferrari. Vetri Antichi: Arte e Tecnica. Exh. cat. Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, 1998, p. 14
Fig. 19: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. From , p. 199, figs. 51–52
Fig. 20: From , p. 24, fig. 44

The complete manuscript of this work was peer reviewed through a single-masked process in which the reviewers remained anonymous.