Condition
Complete. Heavy weathering has given the vessel a mottled gray, brown, and white coloring with an iridescent sheen. Visible breaks in many places.
Description
Flask in the form of a mouse. The body is teardrop-shaped, with a narrow, curved neck terminating in a spout forming the tail. The head has been formed by pinching to create long ears, small eyes, and a mouth. The feet are applied folded lumps. There is a thread wrapped 1.5 times around the tail, which is the mouth of the vessel. There is a solid pontil mark (W. 0.9 cm) on the forehead, which is the bottom of the vessel.
Comments and Comparanda
There are two more glass flasks that render this particular plump-bodied quadruped (Ancient Glass. Formerly the Kofler-Truniger Collection, March 5–6, 1985, sale cat. London: Christie’s., p. 44, lots 69, 70), one of which reportedly comes from Syria (Ancient Glass. Formerly the Kofler-Truniger Collection, March 5–6, 1985, sale cat. London: Christie’s., p. 44, lot 69; Whitehouse, David B. 2001. Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol. 2. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass., p. 201, no. 756). In addition, there are three similar flasks, one from Egypt (Whitehouse, David B. 2001. Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol. 2. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass., p. 201, no. 757), one from the eastern Mediterranean (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. 450, no. 1267), and a third, unprovenanced example with snake-thread decoration, originally from the Kofler-Truniger Collection and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Zanker, Paul, Seán Hemingway, Chris S. Lightfoot, Joan R. Mertens, and H. A. Shapiro. 2020. Roman Art: A Guide through the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art., p. 213, no. 99, 2012.479.2). Also, two similar vessels were found in Aquileia (Mandruzzato, Luciana, and Alessandra Marcante. 2007. Vetri antichi del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia: Balsamari, olle e pissidi. Corpus delle Collezioni del Vetro in Friuli Venezia Giulia 3. Venice: Comitato Nazionale Italiano, AIHV., p. 102, nos. 281–282).
Provenance
By 1974–1988, Erwin Oppenländer, 1901–1988 (Waiblingen, Germany), by inheritance to his daughter, Ingrid Reisser, 1988; 1988–2004, Ingrid Reisser (Böblingen, Germany), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004
Bibliography
Saldern von, Axel, Birgit Nolte, Peter La Baume, and Thea Elisabeth Haevernick. 1974. Gläser der Antike. Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer. Mainz: von Zabern., p. 238, no. 698.
Exhibitions
Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Malibu, 2005–2006; 2007; 2009–2010)
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)