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Catalogue

419. Flask

Accession Number 79.AF.184.15
Dimensions H. 11.0, Diam. rim 1.8, Diam. base 2.6 cm; Wt. 54.26 g
Date Ninth–eleventh centuries CE (body and neck) and twentieth century CE (bottom)
Production Area Eastern Mediterranean
Material Colorless glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Free-blown and ground
View in Collection

Condition

Mended: a concealed join at the transition from the neck to the body. Iridescence on the exterior and incrustation on the interior. The bottom is probably a modern amendment.

Description

Ground, vertical rim; cylindrical neck; horizontal shoulder; seven-sided body. All facets are ground. The bottom is made of a glue- glass disk.

Comments and Comparanda

Facet-cut, small-size vessels are a well-known form, reflecting the fashion that appreciated cut decoration on various forms of tableware and smaller flasks. They have been attributed to Iranian workshops, since this technique was known in sixth-century Sassanian glassware, although they may have been produced in other regions as well (, p. 131, no. 2.34b; , p. 363, no. 491). Sites yielding finds include Fustat in Egypt (, pp. 86–88, form 41, and especially 41c–f, which are elongated examples like 79.AF.184.15, dated in the ninth–tenth centuries); Sabra al-Mansuriyya, Tunisia (, p. 98, type Sb23, fig. 42); a flask in the Israel Museum (, p. 363, no. 495); and two more in the Khalili Collection (, p. 159, nos. 185–186).

Provenance

1979, Edwin A. Lipps, 1922–1988 (Pacific Palisades, California), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1979

Bibliography

Unpublished

Exhibitions

None