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Vessel in the Shape of a Fish (Sprinkler)

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Vessel in the Shape of a Fish (Sprinkler)

Place of OriginRome
Date3rd-4th century CE
DimensionsL: 6 in. (15.3 cm); Max Diam: 2 1/16 in. (5.3 cm)
MediumGlass; free blown, applied decoration
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.1065
Not on View
DescriptionMedium thin to medium thick glass. Fabric cannot be determined because of weathering. Blowing spirals. Natural green; shape of fish with open mouth; tail curved upward. Transparent natural dusky yellow green (5 GY 5/2). Translucent to opaque dark blue thread and added bits. Free-blown. No pontil mark. Added thread and bits. Tooled. Rim, edged with a coil, pulled up on two sides to resemble jaws of fish. Wide tubular neck with constriction at its base where an interior cut-out forms a diaphragm with an aperture of ca. 0.5 cm. Strongly sloping shoulder. Bulbous body with greatest diameter below shoulder. Bottom of vessel bent outward and upward at an angle to form a tail. Rim coil around edge of rim and a second coil just below rim. Neck coil around constriction at base of neck. Bits of varying sizes for eyes and fins.
Published ReferencesDolez, Albane, Glass Animals: 3,500 Years of Artistry and Design, New York, 1988, p. 31, repr.
Vase
Frederick Carder
Probably 1920-1932
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2015
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Tomokazu 友一 (Kanō Tomokazu 加納友一)
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Early Imperial Period, 1st century BCE - 4th century CE
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Edo Period
early 17th-late 19th Century

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