Condition
A number of repaired breaks are visible, and there are some nicks and scratches. There is discoloration and weathering on the interior surface. The base is totally weathered, possibly originally greenish.
Description
The bowl has a slightly flared lip; conical, cyma recta body; and flat bottom. It stands on a tall, circular base-ring formed by an applied coil of glass, possibly green.
The vessel is made of a matrix comprising a single type of hexagonal mosaic section fused together. Each of these florets consists of eight concentric layers, in turn white, red, fine purple, yellow line, thicker purple, fine grayish white, purple, and white.
Comments and Comparanda
For the production technique, see Dawes, Susan. 2002. “Hellenistic and Roman Mosaic Glass: A New Theory of Production.” Annual of the British School at Athens 97: 413–428. and comments on cat. 86. Cast, angular vessels are a very characteristic type for the early Roman period class of glass finewares. Among them, carinated, cast bowls are a quite widespread vessel shape, made of single-colored (cats. 75–77) and mosaic opaque glass (cats. 90–92) in striking colors, and slightly later of translucent glass (Isings, Clasina. 1957. Roman Glass from Dated Finds. Groningen: Wolters., form 2). They were probably produced in Italy, and also probably in the eastern Mediterranean. The earlier examples have the constriction near the middle of the body, and the later near the rim, like the examples in the Getty Collection, indicating that they were probably produced in the second quarter of the century (Stern, Eva Marianne. 1979. “A Glass Bowl of Isings’ Form 2 from the Tomb of an Ethiopian Candace.” Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden 58: 63–72., pp. 63–72, plate 6; Grose, David Frederick. 1989. Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50. New York: Hudson Hills Press., pp. 257–258; Stern, Eva Marianne, and Birgit Schlick–Nolte. 1994. Early Glass of the Ancient World, 1600 B.C.–A.D. 50: Ernesto Wolf Collection. Ostfildern: Gerd Hatje., pp. 65, 328–331, nos. 99–101). Mosaic bowls of this shape have been reported at many northwestern European sites (many of them listed in Van Lith, Sofia. 1977. “Römisches Glas aus Velsen.” Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden 58: 1–62., p. 13; and Czurda-Ruth, Barbara. 1979. Die Römischen Gläser von Magdalensberg. Kärntner Museumsschriften 65; Archäologische Forschungen zu den Grabungen auf dem Magdalensberg 6. Klagenfurt: Landesmuseum für Kärnten., pp. 69–70). In addition, eastern Mediterranean finds include Damascus and Hama (Abdul-Hak, Sélim, and Andrée Abdul-Hak. 1951. Catalogue illustré du département des antiquités gréco-romain au Musée de Damas. Damascus: Publications de la Direction Générale des Antiquités de Syrie., plate LVII.2a,c; Zouhdi, Bachir. 1964. “Les verres mosaïqués et millefiori du Musée National de Damas.” In Annales du 3e Congrès International d’Étude Historique du Verre, Damas, 14–23 novembre 1964, 68–78. Liège: Ed. du Secrétariat général., pp. 71–72, 73–78, figs. 19–20); Beirut (Baramki, Dimitri C. 1967. The Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut. Beirut: American University of Beirut., p. 64, plate V.6); Dura Europos (Toll, Nicholas, Alfred Raymond Bellinger, and Mihail Ivanovič Rostovcev. 1946. The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Part II: The Necropolis. Preliminary Report of the Ninth Season of Work, 1935–1936: Conducted by Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., p. 56, no. 8, plate 46); Meroë, Sudan (Stern, Eva Marianne. 1981. “Hellenistic Glass from Kush (Modern Sudan).” In Annales du 8e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, Londres-Liverpool, 18–25 septembre 1979, 35–59. Liège: Centre de Publication de l’AIHV., pp. 38, no. 19, fig. 2.19); and Heis, Somalia (Stern, Eva Marianne. 1987. “Early Roman Glass from Heis on the North Somali Coast.” In Annales du 10e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, Madrid–Ségovie, 23–28 septembre 1985, 23–36. Amsterdam: AIHV., p. 26, figs. 3.4, 4.5). Further examples are kept in several museums in Israel (Israeli, Yael. 2003. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: Israel Museum., pp. 83, nos. 81–82), the USA (Goldstein, Sidney M. 1979. Pre-Roman and Early Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glas., pp. 184–188, nos. 491–500; Grose, David Frederick. 1989. Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50. New York: Hudson Hills Press., pp. 311–325, nos. 449–525; Antonaras, Anastassios. 2012. Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press., p. 68, no. 67), Canada (Hayes, John W. 1975. Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum., pp. 24–25, nos. 59–63, plate 5), and Japan (Ancient Glass / Kodai garasu. 2001. Shigaraki: Miho Museum., p. 70, no. 82).
Provenance
1936, Private Collection [sold, Anderson Galleries, New York, March 6, 1936, lot 11]; 1940, Harry Leonard Simmons [sold, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, April 5, 1940, lot 101, through French and Co., to J. Paul Getty]; 1940–1976, J. Paul Getty, American, 1892–1976, upon his death, held in trust by the estate; 1976–1978, Estate of J. Paul Getty, American, 1892–1976, distributed to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1978
Bibliography
Anderson Galleries. 1936. The Garrett Chatfield Pier Collection of Egyptian Antiquities . . . Greek and Etruscan Pottery, Syro-Roman Glass, Oriental Rugs. Property of Various Owners. Public Sale, March 6–7, 1936, sale cat. New York: American Art Association, Anderson Galleries., lot 11, ill.
Paintings by Contemporary Artists: Brackman, Corbino, Philipp, Pushman, Lebduska, and Other Works by an Older Generation of Artists. Other Art Objects from the Collection of H. Leonard Simmons, New York, Sold by His Order: Public Sale, Paintings, April 4–5, 1940, sale cat. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries., lot 101, ill.
Exhibitions
None