Pilgrim Jug with Jewish Symbols

Place of OriginPalestine, probably Jerusalem

Dateabout 578-629

Dimensions5 1/4 × 2 3/4 × 3 in. (13.3 × 7 × 7.6 cm)
3 × 5/8 × 1/4 in.

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1360

Not on View

DescriptionThis pilgrim jug is made of transparent to translucent brownish-yellow glass with dark streaks. The handle is similarly colored. The jug is formed from medium thin glass that shows blowing spirals, with small spherical bubbles in the mouth and body and medium-sized, vertically elongated bubbles in the neck. The neck and mouth were free blown, while the six-sided body was blown into a mold with Jewish symbols in low relief on the interior. Mold seams cannot be detected and the relief remains moderately crisp. A ring pontil mark, approximately 1.45 cm in diameter, is present on the base. The jug has a spouted mouth with a rim folded inward and downward. A cylindrical neck leads to a horizontal shoulder and a hexagonal body, which rests on a flat, tiered base. A hollow tubular handle is applied to the shoulder above the junction of panels four and five and attached to the edge of the rim, with a horizontal thumbrest located about 2.7 cm from the rim. This vessel belongs to Barag’s Class B V 9, characterized by Jewish religious symbols molded in low relief.

Published ReferencesReifenberg, A., Denkmäler der Judischen Antiken, Berlin, 1937, p. 60.

Reifenberg, A., Ancient Hebrew Arts, New York, 1950, repr. p. 153.

Goodenough, Erwin R., Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period, New York, 1953, vol. I, pp. 169-170; vol. III, figs. 388-393.

Barag, Dan P., "Glass Pilgrim Vessels from Jerusalem, Pts. I," Journal of Glass Studies, vol. 12, 1970, p. 49, p. 57 (B V 9), 61, fig. 22.

Renov, Israel, "Preliminary Report on the Conography of Jewish Vessels," Readings in Glass History, no. 4, Jerusalem, 1974, p. 19, fig. 2.

Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome: "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 257, no. 174, color pl. 28.

Exhibition HistoryNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Age of Spirituality, 1977-1978, no. 354, repr. p. 386 (cat. entry by Bexalei Narkiss).

The Dayton Art Institute, The Roman World: Religions and Everyday Life (featuring the Brooklyn Museum exhibition: Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire), September 21, 2007-January 6, 2008 (no cat.).

Toledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, October 29, 2010-January 8, 2012.