Spherical Jar with Zigzag Neck Coil

Place of OriginRoman Empire, Palestine

Date4th century

DimensionsH: 4 3/16 in. (10.6 cm); Rim Diam: 3 3/16 in. (8.1 cm); Body Diam: 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm)

MediumGlass; free blown, tooled, applied decoration.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1025

Not on View

DescriptionThis spherical jar (classified as Jar Class IB2a with blue zigzags) is made of medium thin, free-blown glass. The fabric shows a few pinprick bubbles. The body is transparent natural pale green (5 BG 7/2) with translucent dusky blue green threads (near 5 BG 3/2). A pontil mark approximately 1.7 cm in diameter is present. The jar features an added coil and thread; the excess glass at the end of the zigzag was drawn out thin and melted onto an adjacent segment. The collar rim is rounded in flame and sits above an open cutout. The deeply concave neck transitions smoothly to a sloping shoulder. The spherical body sits above a concave base with a kick. A freestanding zigzag coil was applied to the shoulder and attached to the rim, trailed on from left to right with twenty-four segments between shoulder and rim. On the body, two rows of zigzags and three and a half revolutions of thread were trailed on from right to left, from base to shoulder. One thread forms the lower zigzag and continues as one and a half revolutions; a second thread forms the upper zigzag and trails over the other; a third thread forms two revolutions on the upper body.