555. Amulet

Condition

Intact. Some weathering has occurred, causing iridescence.

Description

Amulet in the shape of a dolphin in the round. The amulet is not perfectly flat; rather, both sides are slightly curved. It probably started as a loop or discoid bead and, with further pinching and tooling, shaped into a dolphin. The rostrum is clearly depicted as is the characteristic melon on the animal’s forehead. The dorsal fin is pinched, and the flukes of the tail are clearly visible. A small protuberance on the underbelly might represent the pectoral fin. The threading hole is the eye of the animal. The animal is rendered in dynamic movement with its tail bent, at the moment of jumping above the sea.

Comments and Comparanda

These pendants are usually made in a single color and occasionally are embellished with details like the fins and the rostrum in another color. Several examples are known from burials of the Roman imperial to early Byzantine period (fourth–seventh centuries) at Syro-Palestinian sites (Spaer 2001, p. 186, fig. 83, p. 188 no. 427, plate 32; Chebab 1986, p. 167, plate 27:1, 3–5) and on Cyprus (Lightfoot 2017, p. 314, nos. 478–479), as well as in Germany (Pirling 1979: tomb 2826), Hungary (Burger 1966, p. 104, fig. 97, tomb 47:10, with a ca. fourth-century glass jug), and the Black Sea coast (Alekseeva 1978, single-colored glass, pp. 73–74, form 184, plate 34, no. 21, ascribed to the first century CE).

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

von Saldern et al. 1974, p. 252, no. 732.

Exhibitions

Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)