Double Head-shaped Flask: Two Similar Grotesque Heads
Double Head-shaped Flask: Two Similar Grotesque Heads
Place of OriginProbably Eastern Mediterranean
DateProbably late third or fourth century
DimensionsH: 5 5/16 in. (13.5 cm); Diam: 1 5/16 in. (3.4 cm)
MediumGlass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.428
Not on View
DescriptionTransparent streaked manganese colored. Medium thin glass. Blowing spirals. Fabric cannot be determined because of weathering. Rim and neck free blown. Body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections, probably open at the base (MCT IX). Mold seams through leaf at junction of heads. No mold seam on underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Pontil scar ca. 1.2 cm in diameter.
Flaring rim, rounded and irregularly thickened in flame, with a tool mark on the interior. Tubular neck, bulging above constriction at its base. Projecting roll formed by overblow marks shoulder. Ovoid body in the shape of a double head. Circular flat base.
Body in the shape of two heads back to back with similar features: knitted brow, eyebrows arching over bulging knobby eyes, short nose with carefully rendered nostrils, large frowning mouth with a long downturned upper lip and a short straight lower lip, small protruding chin with a cleft, and large puffed cheeks. The face is framed by a horizontal ridge above the forehead with a row of about eight small, circular knobs above it and by a double roll below the chin with a central circular element that may represent the knotted snakes of Medusa. There is no hair, and a large acanthus leaf disguises the mold seam on either side; there are five lobes on each side of one leaf and four lobes on each side of the other leaf.
Transparent streaked manganese colored.
Rim and neck free blown. Body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections, probably open at the base (MCT IX). Mold seams through leaf at junction of heads. No mold seam on underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Pontil scar ca. 1.2 cm in diameter.
Flaring rim, rounded and irregularly thickened in flame, with a tool mark on the interior. Tubular neck, bulging above constriction at its base. Projecting roll formed by overblow marks shoulder. Ovoid body in the shape of a double head. Circular flat base.
Body in the shape of two heads back to back with similar features: knitted brow, eyebrows arching over bulging knobby eyes, short nose with carefully rendered nostrils, large frowning mouth with a long downturned upper lip and a short straight lower lip, small protruding chin with a cleft, and large puffed cheeks. The face is framed by a horizontal ridge above the forehead with a row of about eight small, circular knobs above it and by a double roll below the chin with a central circular element that may represent the knotted snakes of Medusa. There is no hair, and a large acanthus leaf disguises the mold seam on either side; there are five lobes on each side of one leaf and four lobes on each side of the other leaf.
Published ReferencesDavid F.Grose, "Ancient Glass," TMA Museum News, 1978, 78, 82, fig. 19.
Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: the First through Sixth Centuries, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in Association with the Toledo Museum of Art, Rome, Italy, 1995, cat. no. 160, pp. 240-241, color plate 27, p. 62.
Third century
Perhaps late first or second century
Probably late third or fourth century
Probably late second century
Workshop of the Floating Handles
first half CE 1st century
Second half of the 1st century CE
Late 2nd to early 3rd century CE
Third century
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