Condition
Fully preserved; cracked and mended. Iridescence on the exterior; dark incrustation in the interior.
Description
In-folded and flattened, flaring rim; long cylindrical neck, constricted at its base; flattened circular body tapering toward the convex bottom.
Comments and Comparanda
Small lentoid vessels, apparently to contain holy or medicinal liquids, or even perfumes, for personal use, are known from several eastern Mediterranean sites, both cemeteries and habitation areas, dated from Roman to Byzantine and Islamic contexts. Late Roman parallels include Vessberg, Olof. 1952. “Roman Glass in Cyprus.” Opuscula Archaeologica 7: 109–165., p. 135, plate 7.46, 7.47; Abdul Hak, Sélim. 1965. “Contribution d’une découverte archéologique récente à l’étude de la verrerie syrienne à l’époque romaine.” Journal of Glass Studies 7: 26–34., p. 28, fig. 5; Barag, Dan. 1970. “Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine.” PhD diss. [in Hebrew], Hebrew University, Jerusalem., vol. 2, plate 37, type IX:6; Fortuna Canivet, Maria Teresa. 1970. “Vetri del V–VII secolo trovati nell’Apamène (Siria).” Journal of Glass Studies 12: 64–66., p. 65, no. 7, fig. 6; Auth, Susan Handler. 1976. Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum from the Eugene Schaefer Collection of Antiquities. Newark, NJ: Newark Museum., pp. 135, 220, nos. 170, 455; Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 268, no. 356; Antonaras, Anastassios. 2012. Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., p. 258, no. 422; Slane, W. Kathleen. 2017. Tombs, Burials, and Commemoration in Corinth’s Northern Cemetery. Corinth XXI. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens., pp. 67 and 204, plate 53; Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2017. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Ancient Glass. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_Cesnola_Collection_of_Cypriot_Art_Ancient_Glass., p. 290, nos. 439–440; Antonaras, Anastassios. 2019. The Art of Glass: Works from the Collection of the Museum of Byzantine Culture. Thessaloniki: Museum of Byzantine Culture., pp. 166–167, nos. 209–210. For Islamic parallels, see Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2005. “Glass Finds from Amorium.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 59: 173–181., p. 174, fig. 1; Scanlon, George T., and Ralph H. Pinder-Wilson. 2001. Fustat Glass of the Early Islamic Period: Finds Excavated by the American Research Center in Egypt, 1964–1980. London: Altajir World of Islam Trust., p. 9; Lester, Ayala. 2003. “Glass Bottles and Vials from Tiberias.” In Annales du 15e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, New York–Corning, 2001, 158–164. Nottingham: AIHV., pp. 161–162, fig. 4.
Provenance
1979, Edwin A. Lipps, 1922–1988 (Pacific Palisades, California), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1979
Bibliography
Unpublished
Exhibitions
None