Condition
Fully preserved. A fracture on the neck and shoulder; faint layer of iridescence on the exterior and reddish incrustation in the interior.
Description
In-folded, tubular rim; conical mouth; cylindrical neck with a slight constriction at its base; biconical body ending in a small, convex bottom. A thick turquoise coil has been wound three times under the bottom, forming a base disk. On the body are visible faint, dip mold–blown ribs, slanting from left to right. In addition, ten deep vertical indentations are around the body from shoulder to bottom. Two turquoise coil handles start on the shoulder and end at mid-neck height.
Comments and Comparanda
Small glass amphorae rendering in miniature the shape of large clay amphorae were quite popular, and they were used as tableware for serving wine. This vessel belongs to a distinctive group of Syro-Palestinian glass table amphorae, appearing in four different types, which have been dated to the fourth and fifth centuries CE (Stern, Eva Marianne. 1977. Ancient Glass at the Fondation Custodia (Collection Frits Lugt) Paris. Archaeologia Traiectina 12. Groningen: Wolfers-Noordhoff., pp. 84–85). This particular vessel, due to its tall, tubular neck, which is constricted at its base, is ascribed to type III. Like the majority of examples of this type, it is dip mold–blown, with spiraling ribbing and elongated indentations along the body. On the basis of its long, conical body, the presence of a base, and the absence of a decorative coil halfway down neck, it is ascribed to type IIIB1b (Stern, Eva Marianne. 1977. Ancient Glass at the Fondation Custodia (Collection Frits Lugt) Paris. Archaeologia Traiectina 12. Groningen: Wolfers-Noordhoff., pp. 84–85, fig. 3). The findspots indicate that these may have been produced in Palestine, possibly beginning in the first half of the fourth century CE (Barag, Dan. 1970. “Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine.” PhD diss. [in Hebrew], Hebrew University, Jerusalem., vol. 2, plate 37, type 10.5 [variant]; Auth, Susan Handler. 1976. Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum from the Eugene Schaefer Collection of Antiquities. Newark, NJ: Newark Museum., p. 131, no. 164; 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. 164; Oliver, Andrew, Jr. 1980. Ancient Glass in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh. Pittsbourgh, PA: Carnegie Institute., p. 124, no. 218; Stern, Eva Marianne. 2001. Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass, 10 BCE–700 CE: Ernesto Wolf Collection. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz., pp. 146–149, nos. 100–101).
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. 219, no. 636.
Wight, Karol. 2011. Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum., pp. 63, 67, fig. 43.
Exhibitions
Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Malibu, 2005–2006; 2007; 2009–2010)
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)