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Catalogue

191. Hexagonal Bottle with High-Relief Vessels / Flask

Accession Number 2003.298
Dimensions H. 7.0, Diam. rim 2.0–2.2, Diam. base 2.4 cm; Wt. 15.50 g
Date First half of the first century CE
Production Area Phoenician region
Material Opaque white glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Body mold-blown in a four-part mold of three vertical sections joined to a disk-shaped base section; mold seams between panels 2 and 3, 4 and 5, 6 and 1; free-blown and tooled neck and rim
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Condition

Incrustation on the interior and large parts of the exterior. Severely weathered. The flaking surface is covered with iridescence and accretions. The shoulder has been repaired with a large fill. Red striations are visible on the rim and upper neck, probably from a vessel previously held at the tip of the same blowpipe.

Description

Uneven, slightly flaring, in-folded, tubular rim, mildly pressed to form a spout; short, cylindrical neck; the body overall has an ovoid shape, comprising convex shoulder and lower part, and hexagonal central area. The bottom is flat. The condition of the mold was not good. Either it was worn out or it was not a good copy of its prototype.

On the body, six rectangular panels divided are by seven smooth columns that rest on a double torus base and support a torus capital. A wide abacus is set over each capital and holds a horizontal architrave, which supports six arches formed on the shoulder, each one containing a large, ovoid, indistinct object. In the panels are rendered six vessels, from left to right:

[Seam, concealed in the fruit below the column and the column’s shaft]

  1. Amphora, a footed wide-mouthed vessel with two vertical handles on the shoulder. If not an amphora, probably a hydria, with the third handle turned to the back.

  2. Krater, a footed bowl with wide opening and two curving handles from shoulder to rim, the opening containing three rows of rounded objects, probably fruits.

[Seam, concealed in the fruit below the column and the column’s shaft]

  1. Oinochoe, a footed jug with a round mouth and high handle to the right.

  2. Amphora, a second footed wide-mouthed vessel, as in panel 1.

[Seam, concealed in the fruit below the column and the column’s shaft]

  1. Oinochoe, a spouted jug with handle to the right.

  2. Krater, a footed bowl with tall cylindrical neck with vertical grooves, oblate body, and tall crooked stem, the mouth with two rows of rounded objects.

The columns stand on a continuous baseline under which six fillets are suspended from the center of one panel to the center of the adjacent panel, with alternating large and small fruits with knobbed surfaces below each column, the larger ones on the seams and covering the fillet. The flat base is impressed with three concentric circles around a central knob.

Comments and Comparanda

See cat. 190.

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

Bibliography

, pp. 142, 193, no. 402.

Exhibitions

Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)