Hexagonal Jug with Christian Symbols

Place of OriginAncient Rome, Palestine, around Jerusalem

Dateabout 578-614

DimensionsH: 6 1/16 in. (15.3 cm); Rim Diam: 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm); Body Diam: 2 7/8 in. (7.2 cm)

MediumGlass; mold-blown, tooled, applied handle;

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1361

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent to translucent dark brownish yellow. Similarly colored handle. Medium thin glass. Fabric cannot be determined because of weathering. Rim and neck free blown. Body blown into a mold with designs in low relief on the interior. Mold seams cannot be detected. Relief moderately crisp. Ring pontil mark ca. 1.4 cm. in diameter. Excess glass at tip of handle folded back against top of handle. Spouted mouth, with rim folded outward, upward, inward, and downward. Cylindrical neck. Horizontal shoulder. Hexagonal body. Flat base. Hollow tubular handle applied to edge of shoulder above upper left corner of panel 2 and attached to edge of rim. On the body, six decorated rectangular panels with designs in intaglio; each panel bordered by recessed dots. In the panels, from left to right: 1, cross fourchée above three steps, with the base of the cross forming a fourth step; 2, two concentric lozenges with a cross with equal arms in the center and a recessed dot in each corner of the panel; 3, cross fourchée similar to that in panel 1, but with a bulbous base rising from the center of two concentric circles rendered in perspective so that the interior circle appears as a crescent; 4, two concentric lozenges with four small recessed dots in the center and a recessed dot in each corner of the panel; 5, cross with arms of equal length, with a short perpendicular element at the end of each arm standing on an indistinct element that may be a tree trunk with four large fleshy leaves extending upward, and four recessed dots in corners of panel; 6, two concentric lozenges with a single recessed dot in the center and a recessed dot in each corner of the panel. CLASSIFICATION: Barag A I 3.

Published ReferencesBarag, Dan P., "Glass Pilgrim Vessels from Jerusalem, Pts. I," Journal of Glass Studies 12, 1970, p. 55 (A I 3), 58, fig. 1.

Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 253-254, no. 169.