Hexagonal Jug

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, probably Syria

Date6th to early 7th century

DimensionsH: 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm); Diam (rim): 1 9/16 in. (4 cm); Max Width Body: 2 11/16 in. (6.9 cm);
Width Base: 2 3/16 in. (5.5 cm)

MediumMold blown; tooled; applied decoration and handle

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1350

Not on View

DescriptionThe jug is made of transparent natural pale green glass (near 10 GY 6/2) with a similarly colored coil and handle. It is thin-walled, with numerous vertically elongated bubbles in the neck and a few spherical bubbles in the body. The mouth and neck were free blown, while the body was probably blown into a multi-part mold with a base plate, producing crisp relief decoration. The pontil mark is about 1.1 cm in diameter, and excess glass at the tip of the handle was folded back against the top. It has a circular mouth with the rim folded outward, upward, and inward. The tubular neck tapers slightly upward, with a coil around its middle secured with a buckle where it attaches. The shoulder is slightly sloped, and the hexagonal body tapers slightly downward. The kicked base features a star in sunken relief with six forked arms. The handle is a curved coil, applied between panels 1 and 2 and attached to the rim’s edge, then folded downward, inward, upward, and outward to form a closed loop. The six rectangular panels on the body display designs in sunken relief: two-and-a-quarter lozenges with a circle in each (panels 1 and 4); a lattice pattern (panels 2 and 5); and stylized palm branches (panels 3 and 6).

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. 180, pp. 261-262, color plate 29, p. 63.