257. Beaker

Condition

This beaker is severely weathered. Its surface bears extensive iridescence, dark accretions, and flaking.

Description

Cut-off, probably mildly polished rim; conical body, standing on a low, slightly protruding bottom. The vessel is decorated with wheel-cutting. Two parallel, horizontal grooves form a rib at mid-body height. Another set of grooves forms a rib at the lower end of the body. The base is conical, wheel-cut as well. The bottom is wheel-cut at its perimeter, leaving a central raised disk (Diam. 2.5 cm). In addition, some anomalies at the center of the bottom might be interpreted as a pontil scar (1 × 0.9 cm).

Comments and Comparanda

For comments on the material, see cat. 251. For comments on the technique, see cat. 256.

Truncated conical beakers in particular, decorated at different parts exclusively with horizontal ribs, are dated to the end of the first–first half of the second century CE, and findspots of published examples include all parts of the Roman Empire (Foy et al. 2019, vol. 1, pp. 22, form IN 13; Fünfschilling 2015, pp. 312–313, form AR 44).

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. 184, no. 508.

Exhibitions

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