Squat Conical Jug with Trefoil Mouth

Place of OriginAncient Rome, probably Syria or Palestine

DateProbably fourth century

DimensionsH: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm); Rim Diam: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm); Body Diam: 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm)

MediumGlass; mold blown, removed, free blown, and tooled.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1000

Not on View

DescriptionThis jug is made of medium-thin glass in a transparent natural light olive hue (near 10 Y 5/4) with similarly colored coils and a translucent greenish yellow handle. Tiny black specks are visible in the vessel, with more concentrated in the handle. A few medium-sized bubbles can also be seen. The body was blown into a vertically ribbed and grooved mold and then slightly expanded. The neck and mouth were free-blown and tooled. A pontil mark about 1.2 cm in diameter is present. The rim coil and neck coil run from left to right; the rim coil has a decorative triangular buckle at the point of application, though the neck coil is now lost. The trefoil mouth has a rim rounded in the flame. The cylindrical neck curves into a horizontal shoulder with a bulge above the mold line. The squat conical body has concave sides and a concave base. A straight plain coil handle is attached to the shoulder and joins the rim, where excess glass was folded down to form a closed loop beneath the mouth. The body is decorated with 32 expanded vertical corrugations running from just below the shoulder to the edge of the base. Its typology corresponds to Jug Class IIB1a with coil handle I A 2 a.