Lentoid Aryballos (Bottle)

Place of OriginSouth Italy

Dateabout 350-300 BCE

Dimensions5 1/4 x 4 x 1 5.8 x 2 7/8 in. (13.3 x 10.2 cm x 4.2 x 7.3 cm)

MediumCore-formed glass with trailed thread decoration

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1985.66

Not on View

DescriptionA large lentoid aryballos with a flattened, globular body and a cylindrical neck tapering upward to a broad, horizontal rim-disk. The vessel rests on two cylindrical rolls attached at the basal angle, mirrored by two identical rolls attached horizontally on the shoulder. Two ring handles connect the shoulder to the neck. The body consists of a translucent golden-brown ground decorated with opaque yellow and white threads; these are marvered and tooled into a feather pattern arranged in twelve vertical panels. Spiraling yellow threads encircle the neck and rim-disk. The interior shows the rough surface characteristic of the core-forming technique, where molten glass was wound around a removable core of clay and dung.

Label TextThis large lentoid aryballos belongs to a rare group of core-formed glass vessels classified as Mediterranean Group II (Grose Class II:A). It is distinguished by its exceptional size (13.3 cm height) and its specific coloration—a golden-brown ground that is unusual for the Eastern Mediterranean and strongly suggests a workshop in Italy or Magna Graecia. The vessel features a flattened, lentil-shaped body with complex applied decoration, including "stand-rolls" at the base and corresponding rolls at the shoulder, a feature linking it structurally to amphoriskoi of the same period. The decoration consists of opaque yellow and white trails combed into a refined feather pattern. Unlike many contemporaries which suffer from extensive weathering, this example retains a pristine sheen, though condition reports indicate the neck has been subject to inpainting to address losses. Historically, these vessels represent the "Second Golden Age" of core-formed glass, produced in the decades following the death of Alexander the Great.Published References"Recent Important Acquisitions," Journal of Glass Studies 29, 1987, p. 113.

Grose, David F., Early Ancient Glass: Core-formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.c. to A.d. 50, New York, Hudson Hills Press in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1989, Cat. No. 154, p. 164-165, Repr. (col.) p. 105.

Luckner, Kurt T. and Sandra E. Knudsen, "Early ancient glass in the Toledo Museum of Art," Minerva, vol. 1, no. 1, Jan. 1990, p. 33, fig. 2 (col.).

Battie, David and Simon Cottle, eds. Sotheby's concise encyclopedia of glass, London, 1991, repr. p. 20 (col.).

Saldern, Axel von, Antikes Glas, Munchen, C.H. Beck, 2004, p. 77, pl. 12/70.

Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, p. 22, repr. (col.) fig. 3D, p. 23.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 65, repr. (col.).

Groen, Joop van der Groen and Hans van Rossum, Romeins Glas uit Particulier Bezit, Utrecht, Martijs, 2011, pp.16-17, repr. p. 17.