Hexagonal Jug with Christian Symbols

Place of OriginPalestine, probably made in the vicinity of Jerusalem

Dateabout 578-636 or 638

DimensionsH: 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm);
Max W Body: 2 11/16 in. (6.9 cm);
Diam Rim: 2 11/16 in. (6.9 cm);
W base: 2 5/16 in. (5.8 cm)

MediumMold blown with applied rim and handle. Medium thin glass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1354

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent to translucent dusky yellow (near 5 Y 6/4). Similarly colored handle. Medium thin glass. Blowing spirals. Some small spherical bubbles in mouth and body, vertically elongated bubbles in neck. Mouth and neck free blown. Body blown into a mold with designs in low relief on the interior. Mold seams cannot be detected. Relief indistinct. Excess glass at tip of handle drawn out thin and folded back against top of handle. Ring pontil mark ca. 1.6 cm in diameter. Spouted mouth, with rim folded outward, upward, inward, and downward. Tubular neck with slight upward taper. Horizontal shoulder. Hexagonal body. Slightly concave base. Hollow tubular handle applied to shoulder above junction of panels 6 and 1 and attached to 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, stylized human (?) figure; 2, unidentified object consisting of two superimposed triangular elements and a recessed dot below, possibly a stylized human (?) figure upside down; 3, stylized human (?) figure; 4, two concentric lozenges with a recessed dot in each corner of the panel; 5, stylized human (?) figure with halo (?); and 6, stylized human (?) figure with wings (?). CLASSIFICATION:: Barag C IV 3. Transparent to translucent dusky yellow (near 5 Y 6/4). Similarly colored handle.

Published ReferencesBarag, Dan P., "Glass Pilgrim Vessels from Jerusalem, Pts. II and III," Journal of Glass Studies 13 (1971), p. 49 (C IV 3), 53, fig. 39.

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. 177, p. 259-260.