Barrel-Shaped Cup Signed by Neikais

Place of OriginProbably Syro-Palestinian, coastal region

DateProbably mid-first century

DimensionsH: 3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm); Rim Diam: 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm); Base Diam: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm); Max Diam: 2 13/16 in. (7.08 cm); Rim Thickness: (0.07cm)

MediumMold-blown transparent green glass.

ClassificationGlass

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

Object number

1930.5

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent natural grayish green tint (10 GY 5/2). Thin glass. Pinprick and small spherical bubbles, vertically elongated toward rim. Blown into a three-part mold with two vertical sections joined to a cup-shaped base section (MCT V E). Vertical mold seams from rim through palm fronds to central ridge of the series of three ridges below the inscription. Outsplayed unworked rim with constriction below. Barrel-shaped body. Flat base with circular depression around central boss. At greatest diameter of body, frieze with an inscription in Greek and palm leaves, bordered by two horizontal ridges above and three horizontal ridges below. Near base, two fainter horizontal ridges. Diametrically opposed vertical palm leaves frame the inscription, which is arranged in two parts of two lines each: [NEIKAIC/EIIOHCEN] (Neikais epoesen), "Neikais made (it)," on one side and on the other [MNHCOH/O ATOPACAC] (mnesthe ho agorasas), "May the buyer be remembered." Transparent natural grayish green tint (10 GY 5/2). Signed by Neikais Blown into a three-part mold with two vertical sections joined to a cup-shaped base section (MCT V E). Vertical mold seams from rim through palm fronds to central ridge of the series of three ridges below the inscription. Outsplayed unworked rim with constriction below. Barrel-shaped body. Flat base with circular depression around central boss. At greatest diameter of body, frieze with an inscription in Greek and palm leaves, bordered by two horizontal ridges above and three horizontal ridges below. Near base, two fainter horizontal ridges. Diametrically opposed vertical palm leaves frame the inscription, which is arranged in two parts of two lines each: NEIKAI% / EPOH%EN, (Neikais epoesen), "Neikais made (it)," on one side and on the other MNH%YH / O AGORA%A% (mnesthe ho agorasas), "May the buyer be remembered."

Label TextThis cup bears the Greek inscriptions Neikais epoesen (Neikais made [it]) and Mnesthe ho agorasas (May the buyer be remembered). It was blown into a complicated three-part mold, the seams visible on the cup. Neikais, possibly a female name, may be one of the very few women from antiquity known to have been involved in glass production.Published ReferencesFroehner, W., Verra Antique de la Collection F. von Gans, Paris, 1913, p. 5-8, ill.

Zahn, R., Sammlungen der Galerie Bachstitz, II, Berlin, 1921, p. 56, no. 154, pl. 60.

Eisen, Gustav A., with Fahim Kouchakji, Glass: Its Origin, History, Chronology, Technic and Classification to the Sixteenth Century, 2 vols., New York, 1927, vol. I, p. 272, pl. 59.

Harden, Donald B., "Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-blown Inscriptions," Journal of Roman Studies, 1935, p. 170, Group D, no. a and pl. XXIV, nos. c and d.

Riefstahl, Rudolf M., "The Tradition of Glass: Ancient and Near Eastern Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 4, 1961, p. 37, ill.

Neuberg, Frederic, Ancient Glass, London, 1962, fig. 43.

Harden, Donald B., "Syrian Glass from the Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D., BullAIHV, vol. 3, 1964, p. 22, fig. 4, nos. a and b.

Labino, Dominick, Visual Art in Glass, Dubuque, IA, 1968, p. 22, fig. 8.

The Toledo Museum of Art, A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, OH, 1966, repr.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Art in Glass: A Guide to the Glass Collections, Toledo, OH, 1969, p. 24, ill.

Burford, Alison, Craftsmen in Greek and Roman Society, London, 1972, ill. opp. p. 80.

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, pp. 100-101, cat. no. 5, color pl. 2, p. 51.

Stern, E. Marianne, "Neikas-a Woman Glassblower of the First Century A. D. ?" in Komos: Festschrift Für Thuri Lorenz Zum 65, Geburtstag, Wien, 1997, pp. 130-132, abb. 79-80.

Thiel, Friedrich, Am Oberen Grenzweg, Duisburg, Druckerei Ferd. Kleinagel, 2018, p. 178-179, 213-214, repr. (col.) p. 173.

Exhibition HistoryWorcester Art Museum; Cleveland Museum of Art; Baltimore Museum of Art, Antioch: The Lost Ancient City, 2000-2001, no. 80, p. 193-194, repr. (col.).