Condition
Almost complete; small portion of one handle missing; milky weathering over small areas; few pinprick bubbles and blowing spirals.
Description
In-folded, flaring rim; body in the form of a double tube; flat base. Two coil handles on either side, each looped three times, from mid-body, to upper body, to rim. At the center of the bottom is an annular pontil mark (W. 1.7 cm). A bronze rod is placed in one of the body tubes.
Comments and Comparanda
Kohl tubes are widely distributed in the Syro-Palestinian region, found mostly in tombs dated between the middle of the fourth and sixth centuries CE (Barag, Dan. 1970. “Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine.” PhD diss. [in Hebrew], Hebrew University, Jerusalem., pp. 175−177, types 12:2–3, plate 39:2, 3; Dussart, Odile. 1998. Le verre en Jordanie et en Syrie du sud. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 152. Beirut: Institut Français d’Archéologie du Proche-Orient., pp. 173–175, types B.XIII.2211–2232; Gorin-Rosen, Yael, and Katsnelson Natalya. 2007. “Local Glass Production in the Late Roman–Early Byzantine Periods in Light of the Glass Finds from Khirbat el-Ni’ana.” ‘Atiqot 57: 1–81., pp. 36–42). The basic concept of the vessel is always the same: a glass tube bent to form a vessel with two parallel compartments. Variants with one, two, or even more tubes are known, with or without handles. Their content and use are evident because in some cases remains of kohl and/or metal or bone applicators were found in them (Seligman, Jon, Joe Zias, and Harley Stark. 1996. “Late Hellenistic and Byzantine Burial Caves at Giv’at Sharet, Bet Shemesh.” ‘Atiqot 29: 43−62., p. 50). This particular type with elaborate handles has been dated to the fifth century CE (Barag, Dan. 1970. “Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine.” PhD diss. [in Hebrew], Hebrew University, Jerusalem., pp. 177−178, type 12:5–1, plate 39:5–1; Gorin-Rosen, Yael, and Katsnelson Natalya. 2007. “Local Glass Production in the Late Roman–Early Byzantine Periods in Light of the Glass Finds from Khirbat el-Ni’ana.” ‘Atiqot 57: 1–81., p. 42). Other comparanda include the following: Barag, Dan. 1970. “Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine.” PhD diss. [in Hebrew], Hebrew University, Jerusalem., vol. 2, plate 39, type XII, variation of subtype 7; Dussart, Odile. 1998. Le verre en Jordanie et en Syrie du sud. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 152. Beirut: Institut Français d’Archéologie du Proche-Orient., p. 174, type B.XIII.222, plates 58:1, 2; Arveiller-Dulong, Véronique, and Marie-Dominique Nenna. 2005. Les verres antiques du Musée du Louvre 2: Vaisselle et contenants du Ier siècle au début du VIIe siècle après J.-C. Paris: Somogy., p. 483, no. 1320; Antonaras, Anastassios. 2012. Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., p. 267, no. 438.
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
Saldern von, Axel, Birgit Nolte, Peter La Baume, and Thea Elisabeth Haevernick. 1974. Gläser der Antike. Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer. Mainz: von Zabern., p. 232, no. 681a.
Wight, Karol. 2011. Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum., pp. 103, 115, fig. 83.
Exhibitions
Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Malibu, 2005–2006; 2007; 2009–2010)
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)