Alabastron

Alabastron

 
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Object Name: 
Alabastron
Department
Ancient
Category
Origins of Glassmaking
Place Made: 
Eastern Mediterranean
Date: 
399-200 BC
Color
AAT
blue
AAT
opaque white glass
AAT
yellow
Technique
AAT
trailings
AAT
core-forming
AAT
off-hand process
Material
AAT
glass
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 16.2 cm; Base Diam: 4 cm
Accession Number: 
55.1.61
Location: 
On Display
Description
Translucent deep blue glass, bubbly with slight iridescent film and some pitting, applied trails of opaque white, opaque yellow, and opaque light blue glass; core-formed, trail-decorated and tooled. Rim and part of neck missing, wall bends out from wide almost cylindrical neck to form elongated ovoid shape with almost straight sides and rounded base; entire surface decorated with alternating registers of fine trails wound ten to twelve times before changing color; all threads have been marvered in and dragged alternately up and down sixteen times to form an elaborate and delicate festooned or feathered pattern; somewhat below shoulder blue "ducks head" handles are applied, one is deformed and pulled out across the vessel. The broken neck has been covered with a medium gold cover forming a cap with a series of repousse dots which ring the opening; the opening is further elaborated by a thicker "washer" with two concentric rings of twisted gold wire soldered onto the upper surface. Presumably this regular hole held some type of stopper, the color of the washer and wire is somewhat lighter than the surrounding collar.
Provenance
Smith, Ray Winfield, Source
1955-09-09
Signorelli, Angelo ((Italian)), Former Collection
Verres Antiques de la Collection R.W. Smith
Venue(s)
Musee de Mariemont 1954 through 1954
Antikes Glas aus der Sammlung Ray Winfield Smith: Kurpfalzischen Museum Heidelberg
Venue(s)
Kurpfalzischen Museum 1952-11 through 1953
 
Glass from the Ancient World
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 1957-06-04 through 1957-09-15
Glass from the Ancient World: The Ray Winfield Smith Collection (1957) illustrated, pp. 27-29, #19; BIB# 27315
Glaser der Antike (1952-12) p. 496;
Raccolta Archeological del Prof. Datt. Angelo Signorelli (1951-10-29) #47, illus.;

What is AAT?

The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) (r) is a structured vocabulary for generic concepts related to art and architecture. It was developed by The Getty Research Institute to help research institutions become consistent in the terminology they use.Learn More