Condition
Mended; some areas are filled. The surface is weathered and bears an iridescent sheen; brown accretions around the base of the handles.
Description
Flaring, in-folded, and flattened tubular rim; cylindrical neck, mildly constricted at its base; convex, sloping shoulder; cylindrical body with convex lower part; flat bottom. Two opposed, bifurcated strap handles of translucent dark blue glass applied on the shoulders, drawn upward, bent, and attached halfway up neck.
The mold-blown decoration consists of a frieze of 16 downturned tongues in raised outline with raised darts between them on the shoulder, and a frieze of 24 upturned identical tongues and darts on the lower part of the body. The central, cylindrical part of the body is bordered on the upper part by a raised ridge and a groove, and on the lower part by a concave band. The central part of the body is decorated with a wreath made of grape and ivy twigs ending in olive tree twigs at the front. On each mold section a different plant is depicted, arranged horizontally, tip to tip; from left to right: (1) ivy branch(es) with four pairs of trefoil leaves pointing toward the center, bundled at the center of the panel with three oblique ring fillets; (2) grape branch(es) with four pairs of multifoil leaves pointing toward the center, bundled at the center of the panel with three oblique fillets; (3) two probably stylized olive branches with two pairs of single-pointed leaves alternating with round fruits, each branch ending toward the center in an oblique, oval thickening. On the bottom are three raised concentric rings surrounding a central boss, the outer ring forming a base-ring 3 cm in diameter.
Comments and Comparanda
There are several published mold-blown flasks decorated with a central band filled with floral sprays flanked by tongues and petals, decoration that appears in a number of variants. It has been suggested that the concept of the design can be connected to Aristeas, a famous first-century CE glassblower (Harden, Donald Benjamin. 1944. “Two Tomb-Groups of First Century AD from Yahmour, Syria, and the Supplement to the List of Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-Blown Inscriptions” and “Romano-Syrian Glass: A Postscript.” Syria 24: 81–95, 291–292., pp. 84–86; Stern, Eva Marianne. 1995. The Toledo Museum of Art. Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider., p. 166). This vessel is a unique example with two handles from a well-known type of mold-blown vessel, all of which are finished as jugs. They constitute a quite widespread type (Harden, Donald Benjamin. 1944. “Two Tomb-Groups of First Century AD from Yahmour, Syria, and the Supplement to the List of Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-Blown Inscriptions” and “Romano-Syrian Glass: A Postscript.” Syria 24: 81–95, 291–292., pp. 84–86, 292; Stern, Eva Marianne. 1995. The Toledo Museum of Art. Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider., pp. 116–168, nos. 75–77). Several finds originate from the Syro-Palestinian region, where they were quite probably produced (Harden, Donald Benjamin. 1944. “Two Tomb-Groups of First Century AD from Yahmour, Syria, and the Supplement to the List of Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-Blown Inscriptions” and “Romano-Syrian Glass: A Postscript.” Syria 24: 81–95, 291–292., pp. 84–85, 292; Israeli, Yael. 1964. “Sidonian Mould Blown Glass Vessels in the Museum Haaretz.” Journal of Glass Studies 6: 34–41., pp. 36–37, no. 4b, figs. 6–7), and Cyprus (Vessberg, Olof. 1952. “Roman Glass in Cyprus.” Opuscula Archaeologica 7: 109–165., p. 130, plate VI, no. 20; Karageorghis, Vassos. 1988. “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1987: Musée régional de Limassol.” Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 112, no. 2: 793–855., pp. 799, 801, fig. 16). They are known also from Austria (Harden, Donald Benjamin. 1944. “Two Tomb-Groups of First Century AD from Yahmour, Syria, and the Supplement to the List of Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-Blown Inscriptions” and “Romano-Syrian Glass: A Postscript.” Syria 24: 81–95, 291–292., p. 85, no. d; Czurda-Ruth, Barbara. 1979. Die Römischen Gläser von Magdalensberg. Kärntner Museumsschriften 65; Archäologische Forschungen zu den Grabungen auf dem Magdalensberg 6. Klagenfurt: Landesmuseum für Kärnten., pp. 144–145, no. 1055, plates 9, 22) and Spain (Price, Jennifer. 1974. “Some Roman Glass from Spain.” Annales de 6e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, Cologne, 1–7 juillet 1973, 65–84. Liège: Ed. du Secrétariat Général dell’ Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre., p. 68, no. 2), and there are a few more with unrecorded findspots (Auth, Susan Handler. 1976. Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum from the Eugene Schaefer Collection of Antiquities. Newark, NJ: Newark Museum., p. 66, no. 59; Oliver, Andrew, Jr. 1980. Ancient Glass in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh. Pittsbourgh, PA: Carnegie Institute., p. 62, no. 55; Ancient Glass: The Bomford Collection of Pre-Roman and Roman Glass on Loan to the City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. 1976. Bristol: Museum and Art Gallery., no. 42). Since the find from Magdalensburg (Czurda-Ruth, Barbara. 1979. Die Römischen Gläser von Magdalensberg. Kärntner Museumsschriften 65; Archäologische Forschungen zu den Grabungen auf dem Magdalensberg 6. Klagenfurt: Landesmuseum für Kärnten., pp. 144–145, no. 1055, plates 9, 22) is dated before 45 CE, the whole series is dated before that point. This earlier date is also supported by the fact that opaque glass went out of fashion by the 60s.
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
Saldern von, Axel, Birgit Nolte, Peter La Baume, and Thea Elisabeth Haevernick. 1974. Gläser der Antike. Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer. Mainz: von Zabern., p. 158, no. 440.
Stern, Eva Marianne. 1995. The Toledo Museum of Art. Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider., p. 167, n. 8j.
Exhibitions
Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Malibu, 2005–2006; 2007; 2009–2010)
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)