Barrel-Shaped Jug Signed by Frontinus

Image Not Available

Expand

IIIFView PDF

Barrel-Shaped Jug Signed by Frontinus

Place of OriginFrance, found in Amiens (1888)

Date3rd century CE

DimensionsH: 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm); Max Diam: 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm)

MediumMold-blown, transparent green glass.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1948.221

Not on View

DescriptionA small, mold-blown bottle of transparent green glass in the form of a wooden barrel. The cylindrical body is slightly convex and features horizontal relief ribs mimicking wooden hoops: four clustered at the shoulder and six near the base. The shoulder is horizontal, transitioning to a tall, cylindrical neck with a folded rim (outward, upward, inward). A strap handle with three vertical ribs connects the shoulder to the neck. The concave base bears a mold-blown inscription in relief: FRONTINIANA (retrograde), surrounding a central dot. Vertical mold seams are visible on the body.

Label TextThis small glass bottle is shaped like a wooden wine barrel, a design popular in Roman Gaul (modern France). Unlike the clay jars used in Italy, the Gauls stored their wine in wooden casks bound with hoops. This bottle mimics that form in glass, complete with ribbed "hoops" and a workshop stamp on the bottom. The name FRONTINIANA ("made by Frontinus") is molded into the base, identifying the workshop that produced it. The maker’s mark served as an early form of branding, perhaps advertising a specific type of wine or simply the bottle itself. Technical flaws—like the slight lean of the neck—reveal that the glassblower worked quickly, standing to one side of the mold as he blew the glass.Published ReferencesLabino, Dominick, Visual Art in Glass, Dubuque, IA, 1968, p. 29, repr. fig. 18.

Riefstahl, Rudolph, "The Complexities of Ancient Glass," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 433, repr. fig. 15.