Hexagonal Bottle, Masks Type, Series A

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Hexagonal Bottle, Masks Type, Series A

Place of OriginPhoenicia

DateProbably second quarter of the first century

DimensionsH: 3 7/16 in. (8.8 cm); Rim Diam: 1 in. (2.6 cm); Diam: 1 9/16 in. (3.95 cm); Base Diam: 7/8 in. (2.3 cm)

MediumThick glass; opaque white. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of three vertical sections (MCT IV).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.431

Not on View

DescriptionMold seams between panels 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 1 meet at center of underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Edges of mold carefully aligned. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Tall cylindrical neck with constriction at its base. Convex circular shoulder and convex circular bottom joined by a hexagonal body. Base flat. On the shoulder, in blurred relief, an inverted floral motif (a pomegranate or a lotus?). On the body, six rectangular panels, bordered below by a narrow band with a simplified egg-and-dart pattern; each panel contains a frontal theatrical mask. In the panels, from left to right: 1, Medusa, Rondanini type but with more upright wings; 2, a youthful face with half-open mouth and hair worn close over the ears (a slave?); 3, a man with long pointed beard (an old man); 4, Pan or paniskos (a youthful human face with goat horns and split beard); 5, a man or woman with short hair curling up at ears (a mourning mask?); and 6, a man with medium-length hair and medium-length curly beard (a king?). Around the bottom, alternating rounded and pointed leaves. Opaque white. Neck free blown. Body blown into a three-part mold of three vertical sections (MCT IV A). Mold seams between panels 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 1 meet at center of underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Edges of mold carefully aligned. Rim folded outward, upward, and inward. Tall cylindrical neck with constriction at its base. Convex circular shoulder and convex circular bottom joined by a hexagonal body. Base flat. On the shoulder, in blurred relief, an inverted floral motif (a pomegranate or a lotus?). On the body, six rectangular panels, bordered below by a narrow band with a simplified egg-and-dart pattern; each panel contains a frontal theatrical mask. In the panels, from left to right: 1, Medusa, Rondanini type but with more upright wings; 2, a youthful face with half-open mouth and hair worn close over the ears (a slave?); 3, a man with long pointed beard (an old man); 4, Pan or paniskos (a youthful human face with goat horns and split beard); 5, a man or woman with short hair curling up at ears (a mourning mask?); and 6, a man with medium-length hair and medium-length curly beard (a king?). Around the bottom, alternating rounded and pointed leaves. CLASSIFICATION Masks Type, Series A1, Generation A1a

Published ReferencesRichter, G.M.A., "The Curtis Collection of Ancient Glass," Art in America 2 (1914) p. 85, fig. 10.

Lightfoot, Christopher S., "A Group of Early Roman Mold-Blown Flasks from the West," Journal of Glass Studies, vol. 29, 1987, p. 21, no. 11, fig. 6, p. 15 (incorrectly describing the panels as showing two repeated sets of three masks).

Engle, Anita, "New light on the Sidonian glassmakers," Readings in Glass History, no. 21, Jerusalem, 1988, fig. 56, p. 88.

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, cat. no. 41, pp. 135-137, col. pl. 5 and 8, pp. 52 and 53.

Puma, Richard Daniel de, Art In Roman Life: Villa to Grave, Rome, L'erma di Bretschneider, 2009, p. 92, repr. (col.) p. 93, fig. 49.