Hexagonal Jug with Dionysiac Symbols

Place of OriginSyro-Palestinian, perhaps made in Sidon or Galilee

DateProbably second quarter of the first century

DimensionsH: 3 3/4 in. (9.6 cm); Rim Diam: 1 1/8 in. (2.8 cm); Max Diam: 2 1/16 in. (5.3 cm);
Base Diam: 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm); H (Body): 2 11/16 in .(6.75 cm)

MediumNeck free blown. Body blown into a multipart mold of three or two vertical sections joined to a cup-shaped base section which included the ribbed area around the bottom (MCT I or MCT V).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.485

Not on View

DescriptionThis jug is made from transparent to translucent grayish blue glass. The neck was free blown, while the body and lower neck were formed in a multipart mold of either two or three vertical sections joined to a cup-shaped base section, which included the ribbed area around the bottom (MCT I or MCT V C). Mold seams are hidden within the decoration. The medium thin glass contains vertically elongated bubbles in the neck; the remainder of the fabric is obscured due to weathering. The tip of the handle was drawn out thin and folded back. The rim is folded outward, upward, and inward. The slightly tapered neck connects to a convex shoulder and convex bottom, forming a hexagonal body. The flat base is marked by two raised concentric circles around a central knob. A trifurcated handle is attached at the shoulder and secured to the rim with a projecting thumbrest; it is positioned above panel 2. A frieze of thirty thick ribs encircles the shoulder. Each of the six rectangular panels on the body contains a Dionysiac symbol. In panel 1 are crossed double-ended thyrsoi. In the remaining panels—each symbol suspended by a single line from the panel’s upper edge—appear: a footed amphora with high handles; a circular object with two raised concentric circles and a central knob (probably a phiale); a footed jug with a spout to the left and high handle to the right; a syrinx (pan pipes) with six evenly long reeds and two narrow crossbindings; and another footed amphora with high handles. The base is surrounded by a frieze of thirty-seven thick ribs.

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: the First through Sixth Centuries, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in Association with the Toledo Museum of Art, Rome, Italy, 1995, cat. no. 73, p. 165.