Skip to Main Content
332/631
of
Catalogue

321. Flask

Accession Number 2003.282
Dimensions H. 8.3, Diam. rim 2.3, max. Diam. 3.7, Diam. base 2.4 cm; Wt. 22.20 g
Date First half of the first century CE
Production Area Mostly Italian product, known in the east as well
Material Translucent amber-colored and opaque white glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Free-blown
View in Collection

Condition

Intact.

Description

In-folded and flattened rim; cylindrical neck, constricted twice at its base; elongated piriform body; flat bottom. A white thread of glass has been spirally wound six times from the bottom to the rim and dragged upward two times, forming an irregular feather pattern. The thread is considerably wider on the lower part of the vessel and finer on the neck. The thread was probably applied on the initial bubble and became wider at the lower part of the body because it expanded more. On the bottom, a projection of a tiny part of the same multicolored glass is visible, as well as another one that is barely visible, both probably pontil marks (W. approx. 1.7 cm).

Comments and Comparanda

This form of small piriform flask is quite common in both the east and the west in the first half of the first century CE. They appear either undecorated or with spirally wound trails, more often marvered flush with the surface. For parallels, see , pp. 35–38, no. 7A; , p. 30, no. 84; , p. 49, nos. 30, 31; , p. 61, no. 5.

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. 134, no. 374.

Exhibitions

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

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