Condition
Mended, fully preserved, and partly covered with incrustations; many pinprick bubbles.
Description
In-folded, tubular, flaring rim; tall cylindrical neck, tapering toward the body, constricted at its base; lentoid body; flat, slightly concave bottom; a pair of looped coil handles of greenish-blue glass extend from shoulder to mid-neck. Body covered with 27 mold-blown oblique, S-shaped ribs up to the handle bases. Shoulders are smooth. Tool-mark depressions on both sides of upper part of the body. At the center of the bottom is a solid pontil mark (W. 1.9 × 0.9 cm).
Comments and Comparanda
Double-handled, lentoid flasks with oblique, mold-blown ribbing on the body are known from the Syro-Palestinian region in the fourth–fifth centuries 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 IX:8). On most of them the handles are made of a strikingly different glass color (Hayes, John W. 1975. Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum., p. 106, no. 389; Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 269, no. 359; Arveiller-Dulong, Véronique, and Marie-Dominique Nenna. 2005. Les verres antiques du Musée du Louvre 2: Vaisselle et contenants du Ier siècle au début du VIIe siècle après J.-C. Paris: Somogy., p. 396, nos. 1069–1070; Ancient Glass / Kodai garasu. 2001. Shigaraki: Miho Museum., p. 106, no. 156; Antonaras, Anastassios. 2012. Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., p. 96, no. 113), although single-colored examples are known as well (Kunz, Martin, ed. 1981. 3000 Jahre Glaskunst: Von der Antike bis zum Jugendstil, exh. cat. Lucerne: Kunstmuseum., p. 88, nos. 317–318; Arveiller-Dulong, Véronique, and Marie-Dominique Nenna. 2005. Les verres antiques du Musée du Louvre 2: Vaisselle et contenants du Ier siècle au début du VIIe siècle après J.-C. Paris: Somogy., p. 397, nos. 1071–1072).
Provenance
1940, Harry Leonard Simmons [sold, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, April 5, 1940, lot 102, through French and Co. to J. Paul Getty]; 1940–1976, J. Paul Getty, American, 1892–1976, upon his death, held in trust by the estate; 1976–1978, Estate of J. Paul Getty, American, 1892–1976, distributed to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1978
Bibliography
Paintings by Contemporary Artists: Brackman, Corbino, Philipp, Pushman, Lebduska, and Other Works by an Older Generation of Artists. Other Art Objects from the Collection of H. Leonard Simmons, New York, Sold by His Order: Public Sale, Paintings, April 4–5, 1940, sale cat. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries., lot 102, ill.
Exhibitions
None