Rectangular Jug

Place of OriginAncient Rome, probably Syria

DateFourth to sixth centuries

DimensionsH: 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm); Rim Diam: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm); Body Diam: 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)

MediumGlass; mold-blown and tooled.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1916

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent natural dusky yellow-green (near 5 GY 5/2). Translucent similarly colored thread and handle. Medium thin glass. Mouth and neck free blown. Body blown into a multipart mold with base plate. Relief moderately indistinct. Pontil mark 1.4 cm in diameter. Excess glass at tip of handle drawn back against top of handle. Circular mouth, with rim rounded in flame. Tubular neck with constriction at its base. Horizontal shoulder. Rectangular body with downward taper. Kicked base. Curved coil handle applied to shoulder between panels 2 and 3 and attached to edge of rim where it is folded downward and inward against mouth to form a closed loop. Around mouth, four revolutions of thread trailed on downward left to right from beneath attachment of handle. Neck coil around middle of neck from left to right. On the body, four rectangular panels decorated with designs in low relief. In the panels, from left to right: 1 and 3, perhaps Greek letters in ligature, perhaps forming a monogram; different combination on each panel; 2, stylized tree or branch; 4, unidentified object in raised relief, perhaps two concentric lozenges like 1923.1354, panel 4. On underside of base, illegible design, possibly a rosette (or letters?)

Published ReferencesEisen, Gustavus A., with Fahim Kouchakji, Glass: Its Origin, History, Chronology, Technic and Classification to the Sixteenth Century, 2 vols., New York, 1927, vol. II, p. 486, fig. 203.

Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries, Rome, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1995, p. 268, no. 192.