Published: May 15, 2018

Catalogue EntryPhotograph of a dark glass vessel with a globular body and somewhat tall neck that tapers out at the top, from the side against a neutral gray background.

From the Catalogue of Ancient Glass in the University of Colorado Museum

Gift of H. Medill Sarkisian and Justine Sarkisian Rodriguez (1979)
Transferred to CU Art Museum (2008)
Height: 15.7 cm
Diameter (max.): 10.2 cm
Roman, 1st century C.E.

Classification: Isings Form 70; Harden Fabric 3

Description: Unworked lip with short, vaguely funnel-shaped mouth. At junction of funnel and neck is a closed tubular fold. It is hollow on the inside but appears as an added coil from the exterior. Relatively tall cylindrical neck with abrupt transition to globular body. Rounded base. Original color obscured by iridescence. Much flaking. Blown.

Comment: Vessberg 1953, pl. 58, no. 110; Hayes 1975, no. 146; Constable-Maxwell Collection 1979, lot 125; and Stern 2001, nos. 37, 38 and 103: all belong to Isings Form 70 and all have similar bodies to this flask. The rims of all of these vessels, however, are folded downwards, whereas the fold in the rim of this flask creates a ridge. The dating of this vessel is based on the dates of the examples above and Isings’ remarks on the form. This stylistic variation is slight enough that this flask could easily have been made in the same area as any of the examples cited. The rim of Davidson 1952, no. 796, which dates to the 15th century C.E. or later, is also comparable, as is Weinberg and Stern 2009 G 16, which dates to the 16th to 17th century C.E. 

References Photograph of a dark glass vessel with a globular body and somewhat tall neck that tapers out at the top, from a slightly raised angle against a neutral gray background.

  • Catalogue of the Constable-Maxwell Collection of Ancient Glass. London: Maggs Brothers, 1979.
  • Davidson, G. R. Corinth XII: The Minor Objects. Princeton, NJ: American School fo Classical Studies at Athens, 1952.
  • Hayes, J. W. Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto: 1975.
  • Stern, E. M. Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass: 10 BCE-700 CE: The Ernesto Wolf Collection. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2001.
  • Vessberg, O. “Notes on the Chronology of the Roman Glass in Cyprus,” in Studies Presented to David Moore Robinson, v. 2, eds. G. E. Mylonas and D. Raymond. St. Louis: Washington University in St. Louis, 1953: 163-167.
  • Weinberg, G. D. and E. M. Stern, Vessel Glass. Athenian Agora Vol. 34. Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2009. 
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