Condition
Fragment. Surface bears patches of iridescence.
Description
A stamped, roughly discoid appliqué with a theater mask. Comical mask with small, circular eye openings, wide-open smiling mouth, a prominent wig composed of 26 radiantly arranged ribs, and a protuberance on the center of the forehead. Visible on the back side are traces of the strap handle and the body of the jug this once decorated.
Comments and Comparanda
Discoid medallions decorated with molded relief motifs were used to embellish sumptuous tableware, predominantly jugs and bowls, from the first century CE and again in the third–fourth centuries CE (Antonaras, Anastassios. 2017. Glassware and Glassworking in Thessaloniki: First Century BC–Sixth Century AD. Oxford: Archaeopress., pp. 167–169, form 149). The medallion was usually placed on the base of the jug handle. Alternatively, it may have been added either singly or as one of a group of stamped bosses on the body of the vessel (von Saldern, Axel. 1968. Ancient Glass in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts., no. 55; Isings, Clasina. 1964. “A Fourth Century Glass Jar with Applied Masks.” Journal of Glass Studies 6: 59–63., pp. 59–63; Harden, Donald Benjamin, Kenneth S. Painter, Ralph H. Pinder-Wilson, and Hugh Tait. 1968. Masterpieces of Glass, exh. cat. London: British Museum., p. 85, no. 112; Harden, Donald Benjamin, Hansgerd Hellenkemper, Kenneth S. Painter, and David Whitehouse. 1987. Glass of the Caesars, exh. cat. Milan: Olivetti., pp. 204–205, no. 113). In addition to theatrical masks, which have been associated with the role of the “hegemon therapon,” that is, the older, principal slave from Greek comedy (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. 429), the repertoire included heads of Medusa, Silenus, and satyrs; several objects connected to the cult of Dionysus (such as the thyrsus and Pan pipes); and lion heads. For more parallels with theatrical masks, see Edgar, Campbell Cowan. 1905. Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire. Nos. 32401–32800. Graeco-Egyptian Glass. Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale., plate 10, nos. 32.762–767; Auth, Susan Handler. 1976. Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum from the Eugene Schaefer Collection of Antiquities. Newark, NJ: Newark Museum., p. 107, no. 123; Clairmont, Christoph W. 1977. Catalogue of Ancient and Islamic Glass. Athens: Benaki Museum., plate 12, no. 39; Welker, Edith. 1987. Antike Gläser im Frankfurter Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte. Archäologische Reihe 10. Frankfurt: Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte., p. 17, no. 10 (left, 87.61); Ancient Glass Formerly in the G. Sangiorgi Collection. Christies, New York, Sale 3 July 1999. https://www.christies.com/en/auction/ancient-glass-formerly-in-the-g-sangiorgi-collection–9591., p. 66 nos. 153–154 and 157; Whitehouse, David B. 2001. “Cut and Engraved Glass.” In Glass of the Sultans, exh. cat., ed. Stefano Carboni and David Whitehouse, 155–198. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art., pp. 232–233, nos. 811–812; Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., p. 190, no. 224; 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., pp. 440–441, nos. 1227–1234; Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2007. Ancient Glass in National Museums Scotland. Edinburgh: National Museums Scotland., p. 180, no. 464; Antonaras, Anastassios. 2012. Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., p. 282, no. 464.
Provenance
Pierre Mavrogordato, Greek, 1870–1948 (Berlin, Germany); 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. 193, no. 529.
Exhibitions
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)