Condition
Almost fully preserved. Some fragments have been reattached, and some are still missing from the body. The vessel bears only light weathering.
Description
Fire-polished, rounded rim; funnel mouth with a tubular horizontal flange; ovular body with slightly concave bottom. It has a fairly deep kick and a solid pontil mark (W. 1.2 cm). Seven vertical indentations around the body.
Comments and Comparanda
This form of jar, with the characteristic flange at mid-height of the neck, is widely distributed in the Syro-Palestinian region, known in examples with globular and ovular body occasionally decorated with applied threads, indentations, or dip mold–blown or pinched ribs. The flange indicates that these jars were not used for drinking or pouring liquids (Stern, Eva Marianne. 2001. Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass, 10 BCE–700 CE: Ernesto Wolf Collection. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz., pp. 150–151). Published comparanda include the following: indented jars: Barag, Dan. 1970. “Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine.” PhD diss. [in Hebrew], Hebrew University, Jerusalem., vol. 2, plate 34, type VI:7-1; Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 237, no. 302 (handled example); plain examples: Bagatti, Bellarmino, and Józef Tadeusz Milik. 1958. Gli Scavi del “Dominus Flevit,” 1: La necropoli del periodo romano. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 13. Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press of Jerusalem., p. 147, fig. 35:3; Seligman, Jon, Joe Zias, and Harley Stark. 1996. “Late Hellenistic and Byzantine Burial Caves at Giv’at Sharet, Bet Shemesh.” ‘Atiqot 29: 43−62., p. 50, fig. 15:4; Whitehouse, David B. 1997. Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol. 1. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass., p. 164, no. 285; Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 238, nos. 305, 306; Antonaras, Anastassios. 2012. Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., pp. 197–198, nos. 288–291. For handled examples, see Barag, Dan. 1970. “Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine.” PhD diss. [in Hebrew], Hebrew University, Jerusalem., vol. 2, plate 34, type VI:12-1; Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 239, nos. 307–308 (trailed), 309 (plain); for ribbed examples, see cat. 315.
Provenance
1957, Private Collection [sold, Sammlungen gesandter a. D. Von Blucher, Heye, Hamburg, Obernkirchen; Werner Melder, Köln; Hofrat Dr. Ignaz Streber, Bad Tölz; und Anderer Kunstbesitz, Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, November 28, 1957, lot 701]; 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
Kunsthaus Lempertz <Köln>: Sammlungen Gesandter a. D. von Blücher, Heye, Hamburg, Obernkirchen, Werner Melder, Köln, Hofrat Dr. Ignaz Streber, Bad Tölz und anderer Kunstbesitz. Gemälde, Silber, Golddosen [. . . ], Orientteppiche, 21.–25.11.1957, sale cat. Cologne: Kunsthaus Lempertz., no. 701.
Saldern von, Axel, Birgit Nolte, Peter La Baume, and Thea Elisabeth Haevernick. 1974. Gläser der Antike. Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer. Mainz: von Zabern., p. 217, no. 631.
Exhibitions
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)