Condition
Fully preserved. Repaired break between neck and the body. Lifting, flaking resin/adhesive on neck interior. It is likely that the neck and body come from different objects. Iridescence, pitting, and incrustation on both the exterior and the interior.
Description
Fire-polished, vertical rim; cylindrical neck with six horizontal constrictions on its upper part; mildly sloping shoulder; short, cylindrical body, curving in at bottom; slightly concave bottom. A circular mark of a solid pontil (W. 0.8 cm) is visible at the center of the bottom.
Comments and Comparanda
In general small, plain, undecorated flasks with relatively long neck appear in several variants, with globular, squat, ovoid, and even biconical body, dated between the ninth and eleventh centuries. Sites with relevant finds include Fustat (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. 38–39, fig. 15-f; Whitehouse, David B. 2014. Islamic Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol. 2. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass., pp. 43–44, no. 659); Beit She’an (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. 39, 158–159, nos. 691–292); Abu Skhair, Iraq (Negro Ponzi Mancini, M. M. 1972. “The Excavation in the Agora (so called Porticoed Street).” Mesopotamia 7: 17–25., nos. 3–6); Sabra al-Mansuriyya, Tunisia (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., pp. 62–65, type Sb1, fig. 27).
Small flasks with globular or squat, cylindrical body, and neck with consequent constrictions are quite well-known, dated between the late eighth and the eleventh centuries. See examples from Fustat, Cairo (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., p. 47, type 20a–i and in particular 20f, with the same body shape as 79.AF.184.32; 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., fig. IV-6–14:26–31). Another probably Egyptian flask is in the Corning Museum of Glass (Whitehouse, David B. 2014. Islamic Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol. 2. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass., p. 66, no. 714). Numerous parallels from Syro-Palestinian sites, and sites in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, the east African coast, Armenia, and Greece are published, indicating the wide distribution these vessels had: Beit She’an (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. 40–41, plate 38, nos. 762–779, wherein exhaustive bibliography); other published sites include Tiberias (Lester, A. 2004. “The Glass.” In David Stacey, Excavations at Tiberias, 1973–1974: The Early Islamic Periods, 167–220. IAA Report 21. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority., p. 185, no. 95), Yoqne’am (Lester, Ayala. 1996. “The Glass from Yoqne’am: The Early Islamic, Crusader, and Mamluk Periods.” In A. Ben-Tor et al. Yoqne’am 1: The Late Periods, 202–217. Qedem Report 3. Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University., p. 204, fig. XVIL4:7), Caesarea (Pollak, Rachel. 2003. “Early Islamic Glass from Caesarea: A Chronological and Typological Study.” In Annales du 15e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, New York–Corning, 2001, 165–170. Nottingham: AIHV., p. 166, fig. 2:25–26, 28), Nessana (Harden, Donald Benjamin. 1962. “The Glass.” In Excavations at Nessana I, ed. Harris Dunscomber Colt, 76–91. London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem., p. 87, nos. 66–69), Manda (Morrison, H. M. 1984. “The Glass.” In N. Chittick, Manda: Excavations at an Island Port on the Kenya Coast, 159–179. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa., pp. 164–167, fig. 134:j), Seleucia (Negro Ponzi, Mariamaddalena. 1970–71. “Islamic Glassware from Seleucia.” Mesopotamia 5–6: 67–104., pp. 67–71, fig. 50:42), Iran (Lamm, Carl Johan. 1935. Glass from Iran in the National Museum, Stockholm. Uppsala: C. E. Fritzes., p. 9, pIate 28:F), and Corinth (Davidson, G. R. 1952. The Minor Objects. Corinth XII. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens., p. 107, no. 684).
Provenance
1979, Edwin A. Lipps, 1922–1988 (Pacific Palisades, California), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1979
Bibliography
Unpublished
Exhibitions
None