Three Ribbed Roman Glass Unguentaria

From

The Windmill Collection of Ancient Glass

Date:1^st- – 2^nd , Century A.D., Eastern Mediterranea

Sizes:   a. blue              ↑ 6.0 cm           Ø  4.0 cm

            b. transparent  ↑ 8.0 cm           Ø  4.9 cm

           c. purple           ↑ 6.0 cm           Ø  4.0 cm

Weight: Appr. 12-20 gr.

Description:      

Free blown miniature unguentaria of royal blue, almost colorless transparent, respectively purple color. Decorated on the body with seven (a), eight (b) and 8 (c) fine vertical ribs. The cylindrical neck ends in a folded outward (and inwardly) folded edge. The underside is flattened and has no pontil mark.

Classification:

Isings (1957), form 26b

Condition:

Completely intact with beautiful iridescence.

Provenance:

Blue ribbed unguentarium: Gershon Bineth collection, Tel-Aviv (Israel)

Transparent ribbed unguentarium : Private collection, London (United Kingdom)

Purple ribbed unguentarium: Polony Fremersdorf, Cologne (Germany)

Published (Blue unguentarium)

‘Romeins Glas uit particulier bezit’ (2011), p. 62, 53, 70.

Originally Published: 5/23/2022

SET OF TWO ROMAN BRACELETS of Joop van der Groen

Roman Empire, Eastern Mediterranean │ 3rd century – 4th century AD
Size of each bracelet: ↑ 1,1 cm; Ø outside 8,4 cm. │ Weight of each bracelet: 32 gram

Technique: Tooled.
Description: Set of two identical bracelets of opaque lime green glass; top and underside of exterior an orange-red band; between these two bands twisted glass threads in the colors yellow and black. All sides of the bracelets (inside, outside, top and underside) flattened; the corners lightly rounded.
Condition: Intact.
Remarks: In the antiquity the owner of a set of two identical bracelets wore one bracelets on each arm.
Provenance: 2009 Malter Galleries Encino, Los Angelos;
before 2009 Private Collection, Ventura County, California;
before in a Private Collection, Great Britain.
Published: Romeins glas uit particulier bezit (J. van der Groen & H. van Rossum, 2011).
Exhibited: Thermenmuseum Heerlen (NL), “Romeins Glas, geleend uit particulier bezit”,
29 April – 28 August 2011, exp. no. 258
Reference: Glas der Antike, Kestner-Museum Hannover (Ursula Liepmann, 1982), no. 166; A collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC – 500 AD (P.L.W. Arts, 2000), no. 57.

Originally Published 10/14/2012

JUGLET WITH SHOULDER-RIDGE of  Hans van Rossum

Second part 1st century AD | Eastern Mediterranean, probably Crete or Italy Size↑9.3 cm | ø 8.5 cm | Weight 94 g

Technique: Early free blown glass, handle applied; tooled

Classification: Isings 1957 form 53 (variant) | Morin-Jean 1913 type 47 (variant), type handle α¹

Description: Transparent bluish-green glass. The squat body with sloping wall, a pad-base formed by lower sections of wall. Tall tubular neck with flaring mouth, rim folded inward. On the shoulder of the body a thick hollow ridge encircling the body. Broad angular three-ribbed strap handle applied on the shoulder and attached to the upper part of  the neck, top-end folded up to form a pad against neck. The concave base is formed by a narrowing in the lower part of the body, no pontil mark

Condition: Intact with some incrustation; a crack in the lower part of the body, consolidated by Restaura, Haelen (NL) 2010

Remarks: A narrow neck like this one, in combination with the manner in which the handle is attached to the neck is a characteristic for the early Roman glass jugs, imitating pottery jugs. This specific type of jug, which has a cut-out fold on the shoulder, is not very numerous. In combination with the specific form of the body this example is even rare. It has a bottle neck like the preceding jugs and a cut-out base.   (Isings 1957) The typical cut-out form of the base is also a characteristic for products made during the first century AD.

Provenance: Cardo Center – Old City of Jerusalem, 1995

Reference: Archaeological Museum in Rethimnon at Crete, Vetri antichi del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Adria, S. Bonomi, no. 318Antike Gläser, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel, M. Boosen no. 53 Collection Castello Viscontea, Locarno Das naturfarbene sogenannte blaugrüne glas in Köln, F. Fremersdorf  Tafel 53 Les Verres Antiques du Musée du Louvre II, V. Arveiller-Dulong & M.D. Nenna nos. 46-49 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Accession Number 74.51.143 from the Cesnola Collection La fragilitat en el temps. El vidre a l’antiquitat, T.C. Rossell no. 81

Originally Published 10/05/2016

Piriform Roman Flask of Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen

Origin: Most probably Syria ~ 4^th century AD.

Dimensions: H. 15,9 cm.; ø rim 3,5 cm.; ø foot 4,5 cm.; largest ø ~ 5,2 cm.; weight 62,9 gram.

Description: The elegant piriform body of this yellow-greenish glass is set on a hollow foot formed from the same glass gathering as the body. It is decorated with two handles made from blue glass with nipped extensions over the sides. At the top, the body narrows down to form a slightly tapered cylindrical neck with a flaring mouth being outward /inward folded rim. The pontil mark is quite visible.

Remarks: These flasks are sometimes called amphorae, but I think that is extending the meaning of amphora a bit too far. As flasks of this type are quite often present in museums and collections these must have been quite popular in those days, but what did they store in those flasks? Presumably these were on the dressing tables filled with fragrant substances and not regular household items.

Parallels:- Rossum van, Roman Glass and early Byzantine pg. 173 nr. HVR 030,without foot and mono color green,- Bijnsdorp, Fascinating Fragility, pag. 310/311, nr. NFB 055, without foot, optically blown body; NFB 273, footed and with left and righttwo handles on top of each other forming a kind of B form,- Lightfoot, Ancient Glass in National Museums of Scotland, pg. 124 nr. 302- Arveiller-Dulong & Nenna, Louvre II, pg. 394 nr. 1064,- Kunina, Ancient glass in the Hermitage collection, pg. 333 nr.405, 229 nr. 203- Christies NY sale 12257, 25-10-2016, lot nr. 163, mono green- Whitehouse, Corning Vol. II, pg. 174/175 nr. 711,- Israeli, Ancient glass in the Israel museum, 249, nr. 347; pg. 264 nr. 347- 3000 Jahre Glaskunst, Kunstmuseum Luzern, pg. 99 nr. 375,- Ánimes de Vidre, les Colleccions Amatller, pg.100/101 nr. 76, slightly different spout,- Antonaras, Fire and Sand, ancient glass in the Princeton University Art museum, pg.151 nr. 210,- Stern, Römisches, byzantinisches und frühmittelalterliches Glas 10 v.Chr – 700 n. Chr., pg 307 nr. 170,- Metropolitan Museum NY, acc.nr. X.21.201

Provenance:- Ex Yitzhak (aka) Mizrahi collection, Tiberias- Archeological Center Tel-Aviv, auction nr. 61, lot nr. 176

Originally Published 03/05/16

 

 

 

Jug with loop handle

in

AJAM /Collection of Ancient Glass

Date: late 3rd/early 4th century AD.

Origin

Eastern Mediterranean region, probably Syria.

Dimensions

↑ 12.5 cm │Ø max 6.2 cm│ Ø base 3.7 cm │Weight 69.20 gr.

Technique                

Free blown.

Description             

Light green jug with a handle made of dark blue-green glass. The disc-shaped foot is made separately from light green glass and attached to the body. A pontil mark is visible on the bottom. The spherical body gradually transitions into a conical, tapered neck that merges into a so-called cloverleaf spout with an inwardly folded rim. Just below the rim is a thin green-blue glass thread, wrapped around four times. In the middle of the neck are remnants of a blue glass thread wound around three times. The elegant dark green-blue handle is pulled up from the shoulder and twisted into a beautiful circle via an S-shape and then attached to the rim.

Remark

The use of contrasting green-blue glass threads as a decorative element is characteristic of  late Roman tableware, particularly in the late 3rd–4th century AD. Such jugs are generally  interpreted as pouring or table jugs for all kinds of liquids. The combination of shape, color, and decoration is characteristic for to an Eastern Roman tradition, with production centers presumably in Syria, Palestine, or Egypt.

Condition                

Intact                  

References           

The British Museum, No. 1913,0522.78.

Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, John W. Hayes, No. 346.

Verres antiques et de ancienne collection monsieur D, A Kevorkian, Paris, June 3-4, 1985, No. 503. Ex Joop van der Groen, Roman Glass, a private collection (2018), VDG 062.

DUTCH 18TH CENTURY SHOT GLASS (OORLAM) of Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen

Dimensions: Size↑11,3 cm.; ø cuppa 6,5 cm.; ø foot 7,1 cm.; weight 155,7 gram.

Origin: the Netherlands ca. 1760.

Description: A Dutch 18th century shot glass (in Dutch: Oorlam). The funnel shaped cuppa is set on a stem decorated with a white opaque gauze core surrounded by a double white opaque spiral. Heavy disc shaped foot. The English call this type of glass a dram. When the glass would have been provided with masonic symbols it would be called a canon glass. Such canon glass is used in the rituals of the freemasons.

Material: soda glass

Parallels:
– Bickerton 18th century English Drinking glasses pg.236, 722/723, those, however, have
colored spirals around the gauze inner core.
– The Hubbard collection, pg. 59 plate 79, also with a colored outer spiral.
– Hughes, English Glass for the Collector, plate 25, slightly taller and perhaps with a mercury
twist.
– Turnbull, Price Guide to English 18th century drinking glasses, pg. 316, however, that is a
lead based glass with a slightly different spiral construction.

Provenance:
– ex Dutch collection,
– With Peter Korf de Gidts, Amsterdam,
– in owners collection since 2013.

Originally Posted 3/8/12

TWO-HANDLED UNGUENT BOTTLE of  Hans van Rossum

                              Date: First half – mid-4th century AD | Origin: Eastern Mediterranean, Palestine

                             Size: ↑10.6 cm | ø 7.3 cm (across handles) | Weight 70 g

Technique: Pattern-blown, handles applied and tooled

Description:  Transparent light green glass, slender formed body, funnel mouth and rim folded inwards. Flat base squeezed after blowing the vessel. Two angular handles applied on the body, on an extremely massive way, drawn up and down, attached to edge of rim. Body from shoulder to base covered with mold-blown sharp spiral ribs, curving from upper left to lower right. Pontil mark.

Condition: Intact and clear, perfect condition

Remarks: This is a typical late form of a balsamarium and is found with and without mold-blown ribbing.

Provenance: Tel Aviv art market, Archaeological Center Tel Aviv 2005

Exhibited: Thermenmuseum Heerlen (NL), Romeins Glas, geleend uit particulier bezit, exp. no. 164 29 April – 28 August 2011

Reference: Roman, Byzantine and Early-Medieval Glass, Ernesto Wolf Collection, E.M. Stern no. 142, Ancient Glass in the Hermitage Collection, N. Kunina no. 410, The Fascinating of Ancient Glass, Dolf Schut Collection, M. Newby and D. Schut no. 85, Archaeological Center Tel Aviv, auction 19, 14 April 1998 lot 118 for an identical example with the same ribbed body, Bonhams London, auction 28 October 2009 lot 304 with an identical ribbed body

Originally Posted 04/19/16

TWO-HANDLED ROMAN GLASS BEAKER OR SKYPHOS

from

The Windmill Collection of Ancient Glass

1st Century A.D., (Isings form 39), Rhineland (Germany)

Size:H = 6.8 cm, D = 12.5 cm
Condition: Intact and in excellent condition
Description: Greenish free-blown footed beaker or ‘skyphos’ with straight walls, everted rim and hollow glass thread. Two handles in same color.
Exhibited: Museum Honig Breethuis (NL) ’Fascinating luxury of Antiquity’ 12 November 2011– 30 January 2012 , exp no. 34
Provenance: Private collection Cologne (Germany)

Originally published Feb 17,2012

ROMAN SLIM SQUARE BOTTLE

in

AJAM /Collection of Ancient Glass

Slim square bottle, second half of the 1st – early 2nd century AD.

Origin               

Western Roman Empire, Gallo-Rhenish region.

Dimensions                

↑  22.5 cm │↔ 6.2 – 5.6 cm│ Ø rim 4.6 cm. │ handle ↔ 5 cm │weight 332.75 gr.

Technique                  

Body blown in a five-part mold, neck and rim free-blown.

Classification            

Isings 1957, form 50b.

Charlesworth (1966) type rim 1A.

Fleming (1999) handle type MS 5254.

Description

A blue-green prismatic storage bottle, a long, narrow body with sharp corners. From the shoulder runs a freely blown short cylindrical neck to the mouth rim, which is folded upwards and inwards and then flattened. The blue-green handle with two wide ribs is pulled up from the shoulder and attached at a sharp angle via the neck to the underside of the rim. A mark has been pressed into the flat, thick base using a base mould. The base mark consists of nine ring-and-point motifs in low relief, arranged in three rows of three. No pontil mark present.

Remark 1

Such large square bottles, which were suitable for transporting and storing liquids due to their thick walls.They are often found in graves of people from the upper classes. The contents of smaller examples, in which perfumed oil has been found, were often valuable. Square bottles are found throughout the Roman Empire. Production peaked in the late first and early second centuries, around 70-130. 

Remark 2

There are a few known examples such as the bottom mark with nine small circles, such as that found under AJAM 095. Another is descridbed  in Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass Vol. III, D Whitehouse, No. 1176. A thrid example was found in tomb 511 from the early 2nd century in the Croatian city of Zadar. Published in the Ancient Glass Catalogue, Museum of Ancient Glass, Zadar, 2021, A. Borzic & B. Stefanac, No. 318.

References             

  Musées Curtius et du Verre á Liége.  (1961), Vanderhoeven,     No.69.

The fascination of Ancien Glass (1999), Dolf Schut collection,  No. 49.

Gallo Romeins Museum te Tongeren (1962), Vanderhoeven,     No. 68.