366. Amphoriskos

Condition

Heavily weathered, with a resulting yellow-green iridescence. Heavily encrusted in areas around the neck and foot. Hair cracks visible on the shoulders. Part of one handle has been replaced with some other substance. The real color of the handles and the toe remains unclear due to the thick layer of iridescence that covers these areas.

Description

Fire-polished rim; wide, conical mouth; elongated conical or carrot-shaped body, ending in a beaded toe. Two strap handles start on the shoulder and end at the top of the rim. A thick coil is wound six times around the neck. Faint remains of the trail of a fine thread that was wound 25 times around the vessel from the upper body to the toe.

Comments and Comparanda

Glass amphoriskoi with elongated and pointed body are a relatively well known form for first-century CE flasks (Isings 1957, pp. 77–78, form 60; Scatozza Höricht 1986, p. 66, form 51; De Tommaso 1990, p. 77, type 59bis), and this vessel, albeit different in the shape of its mouth, is quite close to that production. It has been plausibly proposed that they render in a miniature fashion the shape of contemporaneous clay amphorae. In this case, form Dressel 4 is the closest parallel, which was in use from about 70 BCE throughout the first century CE, for the transportation of wine (Dressel 1899, forms 2–4 = Peacock and Williams 1986, pp. 105–106, class 10; for an overview of this class and the relevant bibliography, see https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/amphora_ahrb_2005/details.cfm?id=102 [accessed November 18, 2022]). In addition, the decoration of this vessel is very similar to that of a group of glass flasks with elongated conical or teardrop pointed body with applied, spirally wound threads and/or coils, also a well-known form of first-century CE flasks; see cats. 332–333, in particular comments on cat. 322. A relatively close, painted parallel is in the Corning Museum of Glass (59.1.82a, b: Whitehouse 2001a, p. 258, no. 853), along with a larger parallel also dated to the first century CE (62.1.29: Whitehouse 1997a, p. 169, no. 296).

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

von Saldern et al. 1974, p. 220, no. 640.

Exhibitions

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