Spherical Jug with Trefoil Mouth

Place of OriginInland Palestine or Syria

DateFourth century

DimensionsH: 6 5/16 in. (16.0 cm); Rim Diam: 2 3/4 in. (7.0 cm); Max Diam: 2 3/8 in. (9.2 cm)

MediumGlass; free blown and tooled.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1002

Not on View

DescriptionThis jug, classified as Jug Class IB1a with strap handle IIA1a, is made of medium-thin glass in a transparent to translucent manganese-colored pale red hue (near 10 R 6/2) with a translucent pale olive handle and coils (10 Y 6/2). The fabric cannot be fully determined due to weathering, and black specks are visible in the handle. The vessel is free-blown with a pontil mark about 1.1 cm in diameter and added coils. Excess glass at the tip of the handle is folded back into a loop at the rim. The jug features a trefoil mouth with a rim rounded in the flame. Its cylindrical neck curves gently into a slightly sloping shoulder above a near spherical body. The base is flattened with a slight central depression. A straight plain ribbon handle is applied to the shoulder and attached to the top of the rim, where it is folded upward, downward, and outward to form an open diagonal “U” shape along the side of the mouth, topped by a closed diagonal loop projecting above the rim.

Published ReferencesPuma, Richard Daniel de, Art In Roman Life: Villa to Grave, Rome, L'erma di Bretschneider, 2009, p. 92.Exhibition HistoryCedar Rapids Museum of Art, Art in Roman Life: Villa to Grave, September 2003-August 2005 (no catalog).

The Dayton Art Institute, The Roman World: Religions and Everyday Life (featuring the Brooklyn Museum exhibition: Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire), September 21, 2007-January 6, 2008 (no catalog).