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Catalogue

348. Sprinkler Flask

Accession Number 2003.289
Dimensions H. 11.2, Diam. rim 6.7, Diam. base 3.6 cm; Wt. 129.37 g
Date Third–fourth centuries CE
Production Area Syria
Material Translucent amber-greenish glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Free-blown; applied elements
View in Collection

Condition

Mended and weathered. The surface is iridescent and pitted.

Description

Fire-polished, flaring rim, with a cutout fold underneath it, giving the impression of an applied coil; short and wide neck severely constricted at its base, creating a diaphragm; globular body; flat, slightly concave bottom. An annular pontil mark (W. 2.2, Th. 0.1 cm) is visible on the bottom. A red trail has been wound spirally around the vessel from rim to bottom; it has been dragged 14 times, forming festoons.

Comments and Comparanda

On sprinklers, see cat. 344. The same decoration of a fine, red trail dragged to form festoons appears on vessels from the Syro-Palestinian region, dated from the fourth and up to the eighth centuries CE; see comments on cat. 306.

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. 138, no. 387.

Exhibitions

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

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