Condition
Intact. Remains of whitish core in the interior. Some crust on the handles.
Description
Broad, horizontal rim-disk, slightly uneven on its upper side; very short, cylindrical neck; rounded shoulder; almost cylindrical, straight-sided body, tapering toward the neck; shallow, convex bottom. Below the shoulder, two opposing white ring handles with knobbed tails.
Opaque white body and handles; translucent purple decoration. An unmarvered purple thread is wound around the rim. A marvered purple thread is wound spirally around the upper half of the body, dragged upward to form a zigzag pattern. Below this a partly marvered thread is wound spirally three times.
Comments and Comparanda
The alabastron (a narrow-necked flask) was one of the ceramic vessel forms that was rendered in glass by the core-forming technique from the sixth century BCE, when this technique, known in Mesopotamia and Egypt since the middle of the second millennium BCE, was introduced in the Aegean world. In addition to alabastra, amphoriskoi (small amphorae), aryballoi, and oinochoiskai (juglets) were also rendered in core-formed glass. It is believed that they functioned as unguentaria, intended for aromatic and cosmetic substances (Harden, Donald B. 1981. Catalogue of Greek and Roman Glass in the British Museum, vol. 1: Core- and Rod-Formed Vessels and Pendants and Mycenean Cast Objects. London: British Museum.; McClellan, Murray. 1984. “Core-Formed Glass from Dated Contexts.” PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.; Grose, David Frederick. 1989. Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50. New York: Hudson Hills Press., pp. 109–125; Stern, Eva Marianne, and Birgit Schlick–Nolte. 1994. Early Glass of the Ancient World, 1600 B.C.–A.D. 50: Ernesto Wolf Collection. Ostfildern: Gerd Hatje., pp. 37–44).
This alabastron belongs to the earliest group of Aegean core-formed vessels, dating from the middle of the sixth century to the end of the fifth century BCE (Harden, Donald B. 1981. Catalogue of Greek and Roman Glass in the British Museum, vol. 1: Core- and Rod-Formed Vessels and Pendants and Mycenean Cast Objects. London: British Museum., pp. 58–99; Grose, David Frederick. 1989. Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50. New York: Hudson Hills Press., pp. 110–115). They were made either of blue glass and decorated with white, yellow, and turquoise threads or of milky white glass decorated with purple threads. Vessels of this group have been found in great numbers in Rhodes, Macedonia, the Aegean islands, and Italy. For the classification of this particular alabastron, see Grose, David Frederick. 1989. Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50. New York: Hudson Hills Press., class I:A, alabastron form I:2: pp. 133–134, nos. 65–68.
Provenance
1908, Arnold Vogell, 1857–1911 (Karlsruhe, Germany) [sold, Griechische Altertümer südrussischen Fundorts aus dem Besitze des Herrn A. Vogell, Karlsruhe (Versteigerung), Max Cramer, Cassel, Germany, May 26–30, 1908, lot 1064]; 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
Bibliography
Cramer, Max. 1908. Griechische Altertümer südrussischen Fundorts aus dem Besitze des Herrn A. Vogell, Karlsruhe. Versteigerung zu Cassel in der Gewerbehalle, Friedrich-Wilhelmsplatz 6. Cassel: G. Gotthelft., lot 1064, plate XI, no. 47.
Saldern von, Axel, Birgit Nolte, Peter La Baume, and Thea Elisabeth Haevernick. 1974. Gläser der Antike. Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer. Mainz: von Zabern., p. 66, no. 158; p. 56, plate no. 158.
Exhibitions
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)