Miniature Amphora in Wicker Basket

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Miniature Amphora in Wicker Basket

Place of OriginAncient Rome, Syria or Palestine, perhaps made in Sidon

DateFirst half of the first century

DimensionsH: 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm); Diam: 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm); Rim Diam: 13/16 in. (2 cm); Base Diam: 15/16 in. (2.4 cm)

MediumGlass; mold-blown.

ClassificationGlass

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

Object number

1951.375

Not on View

DescriptionTranslucent to transparent dusky yellow (5 Y 6/4). Similarly colored handles. Thin glass. Fabric cannot be determined because of weathering. Rim tooled. Neck and body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections (MCT VIII A). One continuous mold seam around body and base extends onto neck. Excess glass at lower tips of handles cut off and pinched to form a small disk. Rim rounded and thickened in flame; tool mark on interior. Concave neck with curved transition to shoulder. Ovoid body. Flat base. Two coil handles applied to underside of rim and drawn down to shoulder but not attached. Handles positioned adjacent to mold seam. Vessel shaped like a miniature amphora encased in a wicker basket, with a rope around the shoulder and a branch of laurel leaves alternating with laurel berries around the middle of the basket. On side A the leaves point to the right; on side B the leaves point to the left. Translucent to transparent dusky yellow (5 Y 6/4). Similarly colored handles. Rim tooled. Neck and body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections (MCT VIII A). One continuous mold seam around body and base extends onto neck. Excess glass at lower tips of handles cut off and pinched to form a small disk. Rim rounded and thickened in flame; tool mark on interior. Concave neck with curved transition to shoulder. Ovoid body. Flat base. Two coil handles applied to underside of rim and drawn down to shoulder but not attached. Handles positioned adjacent to mold seam. Vessel shaped like a miniature amphora encased in a wicker basket, with a rope around the shoulder and a branch of laurel leaves alternating with laurel berries around the middle of the basket. On side A the leaves point to the right; on side B the leaves point to the left.

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 154, no. 59, color pl. 11.

Stern, E. Marianne, "The Workshop of the floating handles," in Gnade, M. Stips Votiva, Papers presented to C. M. Stibbe, Amsterdam 1991, pp. 199-204, fig. 2 [article in pam. file].

Comparative ReferencesSee also Axel von Saldern, et al; Glaser der Antike (Sammlung Oppenlander); Hamburg, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, 1974; fig. 431, p. 150.