Condition
Intact; some incrustations; few pinprick bubbles.
Description
In-folded, tubular, everted rim; long, slightly lopsided, cylindrical neck; sloping shoulder with smooth transition to the ovoid body; pushed-in, conical base; flat bottom. Slanting tooling marks are visible on the base. No pontil mark is visible. A thread is wound in a spiral 10 times around the neck. A thicker, flattened thread is wound once around the lower part of the neck. After the application of threads, two pairs of handles were added. One pair of coil handles extends from shoulder to rim, looped one time against the neck, forming two arches. A second, opposing pair of coil handles extends also from shoulder to rim and is looped twice against the neck, forming a longer arch from shoulder to mid-high on the neck and two smaller arches on the upper part of the neck.
Comments and Comparanda
Tall, multihandled flasks with a distinctively elongated neck decorated with a spirally wound fine thread and multiple coil handles applied to the shoulder and attached halfway up the neck, and occasionally pulled up to the rim, belong to a small group of vessels that has been proposed to be products of the same workshop that produced the kohl tubes in inland Palestine, in Galilee, or the Jordan valley (Stern, Eva Marianne. 2001. Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass, 10 BCE–700 CE: Ernesto Wolf Collection. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz., p. 270). For parallels, see Antonaras, Anastassios. 2012. Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., p. 150, no. 208; Stern, Eva Marianne. 2001. Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass, 10 BCE–700 CE: Ernesto Wolf Collection. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz., p. 308, no. 171; Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 265, no. 351. For an example without base and decorative coil, see Auth, Susan Handler. 1976. Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum from the Eugene Schaefer Collection of Antiquities. Newark, NJ: Newark Museum., p. 219, no. 454.
Provenance
1936, Robert Weeks de Forest, American, 1848–1931, and Emily Johnston de Forest, 1851–1942 [sold, Anderson Galleries, Inc., New York, January 30, 1936, lot 347]; 1940, Harry Leonard Simmons [sold, Parke Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, April 5, 1940, lot 137, through French and Co. to J. Paul Getty]; 1940–1976, J. Paul Getty, American, 1892–1976, upon his death, held in trust by the estate; 1976–1978, Estate of J. Paul Getty, American, 1892–1976, distributed to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1978
Bibliography
Collection Formed by the Late Robert W. De Forest and by Mrs. Robert W. De Forest; Sold by the Order of Mrs. Robert W. de Forest. January 29–30, 1936, sale cat. New York: American Art Association, Anderson Galleries..
Paintings by Contemporary Artists: Brackman, Corbino, Philipp, Pushman, Lebduska, and Other Works by an Older Generation of Artists. Other Art Objects from the Collection of H. Leonard Simmons, New York, Sold by His Order: Public Sale, Paintings, April 4–5, 1940, sale cat. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries., lot 137, ill.
Stothart, Herbert. 1965. A Handbook of the Sculpture in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum., p. 20, no. F-8.
Exhibitions
None