Double Head-shaped Jug with Coil Handle: Two Chubby Faces, One Smiling, One Serious

Place of OriginProbably inland Palestine or Syria

DateFourth century

DimensionsH: 5 3/16 in. (13.2 cm); H (Body): 2 15/16 in. (7.5 cm); Max Diam: 2 11/16 in. (6.8 cm); Rim Diam: 2 3/16 in. (5.5 cm); Base Diam: 1 7/8 in. (4.7 cm)

MediumGlass; Rim, mouth and neck free blown. Body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections, probably open at the base (MCT IX).

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.512

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent light dusky yellow (5 Y 6/4). Translucent grayish green (10 G 4/2) coils and handle. Medium thin glass. Blowing spirals. Fabric cannot be determined because of weathering. Mold seams concealed in hair at junction of heads. Mold edges not carefully aligned. No mold seam on underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Remains of ring pontil 2.0 cm in diameter. Excess glass at tip of handle clipped off. Circular mouth with rim rounded in flame. Tubular neck. Body in the shape of a double head. Oval flat base. Coil handle applied to shoulder and attached to rim where it is folded downward, inward, and upward to form a closed loop. Rim coil from right to left. Neck coil around middle of neck from right to left. Body in the shape of two heads back to back: one smiling face, A, and one serious face, B. Both have high foreheads, small round eyes, large noses, small mouths with lips slightly parted, fleshy cheeks, and torques(?) below the chins. Face A has a very short lower lip and flattened chin, while face B has lips of equal length, knobby chin, and nose slanting to the right. The hair around both faces is rendered as a row of sixteen distinct, evenly spaced knobs with one knob centered over the forehead, then a continuous ridge, followed by another row of at least twenty-one evenly spaced knobs. Transparent light dusky yellow (5 Y 6/4). Translucent grayish green (10 G 4/2) coils and handle. Mouth and neck free blown. Body blown into a two-part mold of two vertical sections, probably open at the base (MCT IX). Mold seams concealed in hair at junction of heads. Mold edges not carefully aligned. No mold seam on underside of base. Relief moderately crisp. Remains of ring pontil 2.0 cm in diameter. Excess glass at tip of handle clipped off. Circular mouth with rim rounded in flame. Tubular neck. Body in the shape of a double head. Oval flat base. Coil handle applied to shoulder and attached to rim where it is folded downward, inward, and upward to form a closed loop. Rim coil from right to left. Neck coil around middle of neck from right to left. Body in the shape of two heads back to back: one smiling face, A, and one serious face, B. Both have high foreheads, small round eyes, large noses, small mouths with lips slightly parted, fleshy cheeks, and torques(?) below the chins. Face A has a very short lower lip and flattened chin, while face B has lips of equal length, knobby chin, and nose slanting to the right. The hair around both faces is rendered as a row of sixteen distinct, evenly spaced knobs with one knob centered over the forehead, then a continuous ridge, followed by another row of at least twenty-one evenly spaced knobs.

Published ReferencesStern, 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. 164, pp. 243-244.