193. Hexagonal Bottle with High-Relief Birds / Flask

Condition

Intact. Some incrustation on the interior and small areas of the exterior. The surface is weathered and presents some iridescence and brown accretions.

Description

Slightly flaring, in-folded, tubular rim; long cylindrical neck; hexagonal shoulders and upper body; cup-shaped lower part of the body. The bottom is flat.

The mold-blown relief decoration is arranged in three registers. The central area is divided by seven smooth posts, each pair of them supporting an empty triangular pediment that covers part of the shoulder. A bucranium is placed over each post in the area between the pediments. Each square panel of the central area contains a bird or an insect perching or flying over a nest or rock in relief: (1) a simplified butterfly to the right on a rock; (2) a bird with a long spoon-shaped bill to the right, on a nest; (3) a small songbird swooping down to the left to feed invisible young in its nest; (4) a bird, a small raptor with diagonally outspread wings, flying to the left over a rock or nest; (5) a bird, perhaps an ibis, to the right, perched on a round mass, probably a rock or possibly a pot; (6) a bird, perhaps a falcon, to the left, perched on an irregularly shaped rock. The columns stand on a continuous baseline, below which 26 adjacent vertical petals cover the lower part of the body to the bottom. The bottom is flat and the seams of the three-part mold are visible.

Comments and Comparanda

Vessels with birds represented on the central frieze are a small distinct group among mold-blown Hexagonal Bottles with High Relief (see comments on cat. 190) because of their relatively low relief and the cup-shaped lower part covered with petals. It has been suggested that the birds refer to this type’s production site, Ornithopolis on the Phoenician coast, which has been said to belong to Sidon (Eisen and Kouchakji 1927, I, 249; Stern 1995, p. 144). In Stern (1995) this particular vessel belongs to Bird Type, series A1. For direct comparanda, see Eisen and Kouchakji 1927, I, 249; Stern 1995, pp. 81–82, nos. 45–46, with further bibliography and detailed examination of the form in general. Reported find places include modern Türkiye and Syria: see de Ridder 1909, p. 152, no. 271, plate X; Abdul-Hak and Abdul-Hak 1951, p. 114, no. 22; Akat, Fıratlı, and Kocabaş 1984, pp. 24, 55, nos. 97, 98, figs. 46a and b. Other unprovenanced examples are known from private collections, including 3000 Jahre Glaskunst, p. 77, nos. 243–244, ill.; Christie’s 2016, pp. 20–21, nos. 224–226.

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

von Saldern et al. 1974, pp. 143–44, no. 410.

Stern 1995, p. 144 n. 9f.

Exhibitions

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