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Squat Piriform 'Splashed' Jug with One Handle

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Squat Piriform 'Splashed' Jug with One Handle

Place of OriginAncient Rome
Date1st century CE
DimensionsH: 8 5/8 in. (20.8 cm); Rim Diam: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm); Body Diam: 5 11/16 in. (14.5 cm)
MediumFree blown, applied and marvered decoration; applied handles.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.1500
Not on View
DescriptionThis squat piriform jug is free-blown from medium-thick transparent royal-blue glass (near 5 Y 7/6) with added decoration in a characteristic splashed style. Chips of opaque yellow, opaque white, and a few opaque red were picked up, marvered, and melted into the surface as the vessel was blown. The rim is folded outward, flattened, and rounded in flame. The tall tapering neck has a constriction at its base and leads to a squat piriform body. The handle, with three ribs, extends from the neck to the shoulder and shows yellow and white flecks drawn out along its length. The base is flattened with a slight central depression. Medium-sized yellow flecks, approximately 0.9–0.5 cm in diameter, and small white and red flecks, approximately 0.2–0.1 cm in diameter, appear on the body and neck.
Published ReferencesGrose, David, "Ancient Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 20, no. 3, 1978, p. 78, fig. 14 (ill).

Grose, David, "The Formation of the Roman Glass Industry," Archaeology, vol. 36, no. 4, July/Aug., 1983, repr. (col.) p.39.

Grose, David F., "Innovation and Change in Ancient Technologies: The Anomalous Case of the Roman Glass Industry," in High-technology Ceramics, Westerville, OH, 1986, p. 77, fig. 16.

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