Cylindrical Cup with Mold-blown Inscription

Place of OriginAncient Rome, probably Syria or Palestine

DateFirst half of first century

DimensionsH: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm); Rim Diam (rec): 2 5/8 in. (6.6 cm); Rim Thickness: 1/16 in. (0.15 cm); Base Diam (rec): 2 3/8 in. (6.0 cm)

MediumGlass; mold-blown.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.410A-B

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent streaked dark manganese colored glass. Blown into a mold with two vertical sections (MCT VII); vertical mold seams from rim to base through palm leaves. Relief crisp. Thin glass. A few small spherical bubbles. Outsplayed unworked rim. Cylindrical body. On body, three friezes separated and bordered by single horizontal ridges. The central frieze contains an inscription in Greek. The upper and lower friezes each contain six stylized wreaths consisting of two concentric circles joined by radial lines; wavy lines below each wreath indicate the knotted ends. Two diametrically opposed palm leaves divide the inscription into two almost equal parts: (AABE THN) // NEIKHN (labe ten neiken), "seize the victory." Translucent streaked dark manganese colored glass.

Published ReferencesdeVillefosse, H., Memories de la Societé Nationale des Antiquaries de France, 1904, pp. 278-280.

Perdrizet, P., "Verres de Sidon donnés en prix dans des concours," Mémoires de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France, ser. 7, 65 (1904-1905), 291ff., Class 1B, nos. 5-8.

Harden, Donald B., "Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-blown Inscriptions," Journal of Roman Studies 25, 1935, p. 178, Group K1iiih.

Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First Through Sixth Centuries, Rome, Italy, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1995, p. 100, n. 4.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Matheson, Susan B., Ancient Glass in the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn. 1980) p. 53, included as a parallel to her no. 134 (reported to have been acquired from Azeez Khayat and excavated near Tyre).