Hexagonal Jug

Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean, probably Syria

Date6th to early 7th century

DimensionsH: 5 1/16 in. (12.9 cm); Diam (rim): 1 11/16 in. (4.3 cm); Diam (body): 2 9/16 in. (6.7 cm)

MediumMold blown; tooled; applied thread and decoration.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1365

Not on View

DescriptionThis jug is made of thin glass in a transparent dusky yellow tone (near 5 Y 6/4), with a translucent brown coil and handle. A few vertically elongated bubbles are visible in the neck, and there are black specks in the handle. The mouth and neck were free blown, and the body was probably blown into a multipart mold with a base plate, producing crisp relief. The pontil mark measures approximately 1.1 cm in diameter. Excess glass at the tip of the handle is folded back against the top of the handle. The circular mouth has a rim folded outward, upward, and inward. A tubular neck leads to a slightly sloped shoulder and a hexagonal body with a slight downward taper and a kicked base. Around the middle of the neck, a neck coil spirals from left to right. On the body, six decorated rectangular panels contain designs in sunken relief: panels include two and a half lozenges with a circle in each, lattice motifs, and stylized palm branches with up to eleven leaves on each side. On the underside of the base, a star with six forked arms appears in sunken outline.

Published ReferencesStern, E. Marianne, Roman Mold-blown Glass: the First through Sixth Centuries, "L'Erma" di Bretschneider in Association with the Toledo Museum of Art, Rome, Italy, 1995, cat. no. 181, p. 262, color plate 29, p. 63.