Cylindrical Cup with Mold-blown Inscription

Place of OriginProbably Syro-Palestinian, probably Sidon

DateFirst half of first century

DimensionsH (pres.): 2 7/16 in. (6.15 cm); Rim Diam (rec): 2 5/8 in. (6.6 cm); Base Diam (rec.): 2 3/8 in. (6.0 cm); Max Body Thickness: 1/16 in. (0.22 cm); Max L: 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm); Max W: 1 5/8 in. (4.2 cm)

MediumPolychrome composite mosaic glass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.412A-B

Not on View

DescriptionTransparent dusky yellow green (5 GY 5/2). Thin glass. A few small spherical bubbles. Blown into a mold with two vertical sections (MCT VII); vertical mold seams from rim to base through palm leaves. Relief crisp. Outsplayed unworked rim. Cylindrical body. On body, three friezes separated and bordered by single horizontal ridges. The central frieze contains an inscription in Greek. The upper and lower friezes each contain an inscription in Greek. The upper and lower friezes each contain six stylized wreaths consisting of two concentric circles joined by radial lines; wavy lines below each wreath indicate the knotted ends. Two diametrically opposed palm leaves divide the inscription into two almost equal parts: (AABE) THN (with reversed N) // NE(IKHN) (labe ten neiken), "sieze the victory." Flat base fragment with applied hollow tube foot. Design is green rosettes (white centers), white rings (yellow centers), and green spirals, on purple ground.

Published ReferencesVillefosse 1904, pp. 278-280.

Perdrizet, P., "Verres de Sidon donnes en prix dans des concours," Memories de la Societe nationale des antiquaires de France ser 7, 65 (1904-1905) 291ff., Class 1B, nos. 5-8.

Harden, Donald B., Roman Glass from Karanis, University of Michigan Studies, Humanistic Series 41, Ann Arbor, 1936, p. 178, Group K1iiif and g.

Matheson, Susan B., Ancient Glass in the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CN, 1980, p. 53, no. 134. (erroneously cited as acc. 1923.411 (Cat no. 2)).

Stern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First Through Sixth Centuries, Rome, Italy, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1995, cat. no. 3, pp. 99-100.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Froehner, W., Collection Julian Greau, Paris, 1903, vol. 2, pl. 80, no. 9.