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Catalogue

221. Flask

Accession Number 2003.429
Dimensions H. 17.1, Diam. rim 4.4, Diam. base 4.0 cm; Wt. 92.53 g
Date Fourth century CE
Production Area Eastern Mediterranean
Material Translucent bluish glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Dip mold–blown; applied elements
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Condition

Mended; some small chips are missing from the body and rim. Iridescence and on small areas a white layer of weathering.

Description

Fire-polished rim; conical mouth; tall biconical body; pushed-in, conical base; concave bottom. The body is covered with twisted, dip mold–blown ribs. A fine trail wound once on the bottom of the neck delineates the transition to the body.

Comments and Comparanda

Vessels like this one, which were first blown in a small and shallow mold and then further expanded by free-blowing, that is, dip mold–blown, mainly appear in the fourth and early fifth centuries CE (, pp. 27, 133–134; , pp. 18–19). A quite close parallel is in the National Museums of Scotland (, p. 96, no. 224).

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

, p. 230, no. 674.

Exhibitions

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

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