195. Date-Shaped Unguentarium

Condition

Fully preserved; the rim was made complete with a small fill. Some iridescence; few pinprick bubbles.

Description

In-folded, tubular, flaring rim; short, cylindrical neck, crooked; body in the shape of a date. Made in a bipartite mold with two vertical sections.

Comments and Comparanda

These vessels render naturalistically the fruit of the palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera), dates. The entire surface of the vessel is covered by wrinkles, similar to those of a ripe date, and its size, which is approximately 7 cm, is also identical to the size of many of these fruits. Generally this is a widely known and distributed form of unguentarium (Isings 1957, p. 94, form 78d; Antonaras 2009 = Antonaras 2017, pp. 141–142, form 117) that appears in many regions of the Roman Empire. Other comparanda include the following: Clairmont 1963, p. 40, no. 150; Carington-Smith 1982, p. 280, nos. 65–68; Scatozza Höricht 1986, p. 52, no. 105; Stern 1995, pp. 91–94; Kunina 1997, nos. 146–148; Whitehouse 2001b, pp. 47–48, nos. 520–521; Antonaras 2012, pp. 78–79, nos. 80–82.

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, p. 174, no. 476.

Stern 1995, p. 92, n. 171.

Exhibitions

Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Malibu, 2005–2006; 2007; 2009–2010)

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