Condition
Pastiche of two fragments. Covered with weathering and incrustation. Repaired break between neck and body. “Fake weathering” (resin and chunks of weathered glass) present on the neck to make it look like it goes with the body. Neck belongs to a different vessel, glued to the body in modern times. The feet probably were originally longer.
Description
Round, vertical rim; cylindrical neck; four-sided body, square in cross section; wedge-shaped feet.
Deeply cut decoration. Deep horizontal groove along the middle of the body. Triangular, oblique strokes transect the body diagonally, forming a lozenge-shape motif. Two deep, triangular bevels on each corner, pointing to the top and bottom of the vessel, leaving a prunt along the central groove. Below the horizontal groove, a deep bevel at the center of each side delineates four pyramidal, wedge-shaped feet.
Comments and Comparanda
Molar flasks, named for the wedge-shaped feet reminiscent of the shape of the roots of a human tooth, and usually decorated with deep-cut motifs, are typical for the entire Islamic world of the ninth–tenth centuries, unearthed more often in Egyptian sites. They were probably produced in several regions. They were used as containers for scented oils and perfumes. Examples include finds from Egypt (Fustat: Shindo, Yoko. 1992. “Glass.” In Egyptian Islamic City al-Fustat, Excavation Report 1978–1985 [in Japanese], ed. K. Sakurai and M. Kawatoko, 304–335, 572–658. Tokyo: Waseda University Press., p. 185, nos. 6–11; 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., pp. 95–97, figs. 42–43); the Sinai Peninsula (Raya and al-Tur: Kawatoko, Mutsuo. 1996. A Port City Site on the Sinai Peninsula: Al-Tur, the 12th Expedition in 1995 (A Summary Report). Tokyo: Committee for Egyptian Islamic Archaeology, Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan., plate 37, no. 15, plate 40:7; Shindo, Yoko. 2003. “Islamic Glass Finds from Rāya, Southern Sinai.” In Annales du 15e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, New York–Corning, 2001, 180–184. Nottingham: AIHV., fig. 3: 8); Palestine (Hadad, Shulamit. 2005. Islamic Glass Vessels from the Hebrew University Excavations at Bet Shean. Qedem Report 8. Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem., pp. 45 and 172–173, no. 868); Syria (Lane, Arthur. 1937. “Medieval Finds at Al Mina in North Syria.” Archaeologia 87: 19–78., p. 66, fig. 10:E; Salam-Liebich, Hayat. 1978. “Glass.” In Oleg Grabar, Renata Holod, James Knustadt, and William Trousdale, City in the Desert: Qasr al-Hayr East. An Account of the Excavations Carried Out at Qasr al-Hayr East on Behalf of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan, with the Help of Harvard University and the Oriental Institute, the University of Chicago, 138–147. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press., p. 146; Riis, Poul Jorden. 1957. “Les verreries.” In Poul Jorden Riis and Vagn Poulsen, Hama: Fouilles et recherches de la fondation Carlsberg, 1931–1938, vol. IV. 2: Les verreries et poteries médiévales, 30–116. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet., p. 53, figs. 138–145, no. 140); Iraq (Samarra: Lamm, Carl Johan. 1928. Das Glas von Samarra. Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra 4. Forschungen zur Islamischen Kunst 2. Berlin: Reimer/Vohsen., pp. 215–219); Iran (Susa: Kervran, Monique. 1984. “Les niveaux islamiques du secteur oriental du tépé de l’Apadana, III. Les objets en verre, en pierre et en métal.” Cahiers de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran 14: 211–235., fig. 8, no. 26; Nishapur: Kröger, Jens. 1995. Nishapur: Glass of the Early Islamic Period. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art., pp. 135–137; Siraf: Whitehouse, David. 1968. “Excavations at Siraf: First Interim Report.” Iran 6: 1–22., p. 19); the Arabian Peninsula (Zarins, J., and A. Zahrani. 1985. “Recent Archaeological Investigations in the Southern Tihama Plain (The Sites of Athar and Sihi, 1404/1984).” Atlal 9: 65–107., plate 18, no. 31); the East African coast (Chittick, Neville. 1974. Kilwa, an Islamic Trading City on the East African Coast. Vol. II: The Finds. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa., fig. 154a); southeastern Asia (Swan Needell, Carolyn. 2018. “Cirebon: Islamic Glass from a 10th-Century Shipwreck in the Java Sea.” Journal of Glass Studies 60: 69–113., plate 6, no. 71); Eretz, Israel, and Tunis (Sabra al-Mansuriyya: Foy, Danièle. 2020. Le verre de Sabra al-Mansuriya (Kairouan, Tunisie), milieu Xe–milieu XIe siècle. Production et consommation: Vaisselle–contenants–vitrages. Archaeology of the Maghreb 1. Oxford: Archaeopress., p. 84, no. 123). Most private collections possess some examples, including the Kuwait National Museum (Carboni, Stefano. 2001. Glass from Islamic Lands: The Al-Sabah Collection. London: Thames & Hudson., pp. 98–99, 124–127, nos. 27a–c, 2.28a–r); Israel Museum (Brosh, Naahma. 2003. “Early Islamic Glass.” In Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts, ed. Yael Israeli, 325–370. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 368, no. 503); Eretz Israel Museum (Carboni, Stefano, and David Whitehouse, eds. 2001. Glass of the Sultans, exh. cat. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art., p. 153, no. 67); Corning Museum of Glass (Whitehouse, David B. 2010. Islamic Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol. 1. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass., pp. 67–68, 90, nos. 103–112, 138–139); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Lamm, Carl Johan. 1930. Mittelalterliche Gläser und Steinschnittarbeiten aus dem Nahen Osten, I–II. Forschungen zur islamischen Kunst 5. Berlin: D. Reimer., p. 165, plate 61, no. 11); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (von Saldern, Axel. 1980. Glas von der Antike bis zum Jugendstil: Sammlung Hans Cohn, Los Angeles/Cal. = Glass 500 B.C. to A.D. 1900: The Hans Cohn Collection, Los Angeles/Cal. Mainz: von Zabern., p. 164, nos. 161–162); Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (von Saldern, Axel. 1974. Glassammlung Hentrich. Antike und Islam. Düsseldorf: Kunstmuseum., p. 273, nos. 419–420); Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin (Kröger, Jens. 1984. Glas (Staatlichen Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin). Ed. K. Brisch. Islamische Kunst: Loseblattkatalog unpublizierter Werke aus Deutschen Museen 1. Mainz: von Zabern., pp. 176, 183–184, nos. 153, 162); Benaki Museum, Athens (Clairmont, Christoph W. 1977. Catalogue of Ancient and Islamic Glass. Athens: Benaki Museum., pp. 91–93, nos. 304–309, plate XVII); and Khalili Collection (Goldstein, Sidney M., J. M. Rogers, Melanie Gibson, and Jens Kröger. 2005. Glass: From Sasanian Antecedents to European Imitations. Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art 15. London: Nour Foundation., pp. 156–157, nos. 176–177).
Provenance
1979, Edwin A. Lipps, 1922–1988 (Pacific Palisades, California), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1979
Bibliography
Unpublished
Exhibitions
None