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.