Glass amphora (jar)

Roman

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 168

Translucent yellow green; handles in same color
Everted tubular rim, folded over and in; broad, cylindrical neck; convex bulging shoulder; elongated ovoid body tapering to a point; two rod handles applied as pads on shoulder, drawn up and slightly out, then turned in horizontally and pressed on to top of neck and underside of rim.
Thirty-four close-set horizontal ribs, extending from shoulder to lower body, then a plain band before a narrow group comprising one prominent horizontal rib flanked above and below by another shallower rib.
Base or foot missing and crack in top of one handle, otherwise intact; a few bubbles; some dulling, faint weathering, and iridescence on exterior, soil encrustation and iridescent weathering on interior.
Probably made in a three-part mold, comprising two side elements extending from neck to bottom of main ribbing on body and a cup-shaped bottom. It is uncertain whether the vessel had a knob base or a foot, but the former is more probable.

This is an unusually large mold-blown glass vessel, for which no parallel is known. But the quality of the piece suggests that it may be associated with a leading workshop, such as that of Ennion. Three of his products are displayed in the adjacent Augustan gallery.

Glass amphora (jar), Glass, Roman

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