ROMAN SPLASH GLASS AMPHORISKOS

ROMAN SPLASH GLASS AMPHORISKOS of Nico F. Bijnsdorp

Mid to late first century AD. Northern Italian.

H: 11.7 cm. Dmax: 6.2 cm. Drim: 3.2 cm. Dbase: 3.9 cm. Weight: 55 gr.

 

Classification: Isings 1957: Form 15. Goethert-Polaschek 1977: Form 133.

Condition: Excellent preservation. Some burst bubbles in patches.

Technique: Free blown. Handles applied.

Description: Transparent colorless glass with opaque blue, white and yellow patches. Ovoid to nearly spherical body rests on a low folded foot with a concave base. No pontil mark. Cylindrical neck splaying and merging to body. Flaring mouth with infolded rim. Two slender bifurcated trails of light blue glass applied to the shoulders, pulled up and bent to attach to the neck just below the rim, creating delicate handles. On one side the trail continues down the side of the neck while on the other side the trail has opaque white streaks and is attached somewhat higher along the rim as well as just below it. The amphoriskos is decorated with random splashes of opaque white and light blue glass with a few blobs of yellow to enliven the design.

Remarks: This type of glass was in peak production during the Julio-Claudian and Flavian periods. According to Isings production started between 20 and 50 AD and it lasted until the end of the first century. Find spots are all around the Mediterranean sea, the majority of which is concentrated in Northern Italy and adjoining regions.

How it was made: The speckled effect on the glass was created by rolling the partly formed vessel on a marver with randomly placed fragments of colored glass. After reheating and rolling the fragments flush, further inflation would enlarge and distort the flattened fragments, giving the glass a multicolored appearance. It has been suggested that this technique was developed to imitate the more costly mosaic glass.

Provenance: Aphrodite Ancient Art, New York. Private collection D.S., New York. , Fortuna Fine Arts, New York. , The Martin J. Wunsch Collection, New York, 1980-2016. , Christoffer Sheppard Collection, London, before 1980.

References: Whitehouse 1997, Corning Museum, No. 361. Biaggio Simona 1988, Museo Civico e Archeologico di Locarno, No. 19. Kunina 1997, Hermitage Collection, Nos. 187-189. Saldern 1968, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, No. 23. Saldern 1974, Oppenländer Collection, No. 391 (now in the J. Paul Getty Museum).

WHAT IS SPANISH GLASS ?

Spanish Glass is an historical period of glass with a distinct look mainly made in the 16-17th centuries.

Glassware has been made in Spain from the Roman and Medieval eras. Here we feature glassware from Spain mainly made in the 16^th and 17^th centuries in many glass works throughout the country.  These were principally in Catalonia, Castile, Andalucía and the Royal Factory at La Granja De San Ildefonso.  Spanish glass from these areas show Moorish influence and later that of Venice, and to a limited extent Bohemia, but local styles were developed making it quite unique. The examples shown here are from The Metropolitan Art Museum and the Allaire Collection. In addition to the Met’s collection there is another fine collection of Spanish glass in New York City at The Hispanic Society of America.

Recommended books on Spanish glass:

(1.) Frothingham-Spanish Glass, Alice Wilson Frothingham 1963,

(2.) Hermitage-Spanish Glass in the Hermitage, 1970,

(3.) Philippart- Fragil Transparencia: Vidrios espanoles de los siglod xviaxvlll, Jean-Paul Philippart, 2011

ROMAN COBALT BLUE RIBBED “MELON” GLASS BOWL

Roman Cobalt blue ribbed ‘melon’ glass bowl of The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

1^st -2^nd Century AD, Egypt or Syria

Size: H= 4.7 cm                D= 5.4 cm

Classification: Isings 26b

Remarks: The shape of this delicate bowl with 13 vertical fine ribs may imitate a melon or squash. Melon-bottles have mostly been found with a handle and were blown in an a mold.  Intact.

Provenance:  Schaf-Lensing collection

Exhibited:  Honig Breethuis Museum Zaandijk (NL) ‘Fascinating luxury from Antiquity’, 12th November 2011-30th January 2012, exp. no 06

Reference: Oppenländer collection, bottle no.429  (also blue), higher and more stretched; Museo d’Arquelogica de Catalunya, Barcelone, nr.7327

GREEK CUP INSCRIPTIONS AND THREE BIRDS

Cup with Greek inscriptions and three birds of The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

4^th Century AD, Italy (Magna Graecia)

Size:  H=  4.2 cm                D= 8.4cm

Description:  Free blown cup, semi-transparent colorless glass, wheel-cut and abraded decoration. With a thickened and fire-rounded rim on a straight-walled body and a ridged foot with a pontil mark on the bottom. The wheel-cut decoration on the exterior comprises a band of cross-hatching below the rim above three groups of five oval facets alternating with a bird, formed from tiny horizontal incisions.  The underside of the base  decorated with a Greek double line inscription, PAIDW  (for the little boy or baby) and a vertical palm branch (see drawings). Internal cracks, otherwise intact

Provenance:  P.L.W.Arts collection

Exhibited:  Honig Breethuis Museum Zaandijk (NL) ‘Fascinating luxury from Antiquity’, 12th November 2011-30th January 2012, exp. no 12.

Published:  P.L.W.Arts, A collection of Ancient Glass 2001 no.72

Reference:  Glass from the Ancient World Ray Winfeld Smith collection (bird/palm branch); Constable-Maxwell collection 1979 nr.267; Allard Pierson Museum inv.nr.15.936; N.F.Bijnsdorp nr.076 (engraved amphoriskos with four birds). Nr.071 (double-lined Greek inscription).

Ivory and Green Jade Colored Steuben Glass

Ivory Jade Colored Steuben Glass Vase

The Ivory Jade color was developed in the 1920s by Carder for the Steuben Glass Co. It is a warm cream color in translucent glass. This beautiful vase was personally signed F. Carder.

H: 5 ¼ inches
D: c. 1920s

78A Steuben ivory jade colored glass vase

 

Green Jade Colored Steuben Glass Bowl

The Green Jade color was developed in the 1920s by Carder for the Steuben Glass Co. This bowl is a light green color on a white foot made in translucent glass.

H: 2 ½ inches
D: c. 1920s

79A Steuben green jade colored glass bowl

Jade Colors of Steuben Glass

In the 1920s, Carder developed colorful types of glass that were neither transparent nor opaque. These translucent Jade pieces were made in light and dark blue, green, and other colors. They were used extensively in the production of acid-etched pieces and tableware. Rosaline, which is usually considered a Jade glass, and the other Jades were often combined with off-white glass and decorated with engraving or etching. Ivory, a warm cream-colored glass is classified as a Jade. Below are examples of Steuben Ivory Jade and Green Jade glass.

Steuben glass ivory Jade color

 

Steuben green jade glass

Pictures from the Steuben Galleries at Corning Museum of Glass

VENETIAN SALVIATI GOBLET

VENETIAN SALVIATI GOBLET

Salviati is a family and a group of companies. They were glass makers and mosaicists who worked and sold their products in the cities of Murano, Venice and London.The firms were Salviati, Jesuram & Co., Venice and Murano Glass and Mosaic Co., Pauly&Co and today Arc International. The founder was Antonio Salviati.One of the most important family members was Giulio Salviati (1843-1898).

A good book on this very collectable glass is: Venetian Glass of the 1890’s: Salviati at Stanford University by Carol M. Osborne

The provenance of the Salviati goblet pictured is the Carder Collection.Fredrick Carder managed the Steuben Glass Works in Corning NY and developed many of their early designs and glass formulas.

H: 9 ¾ inches

19^th C

01E Venetian Salviati Goblet

American Pattern-Molded Bottles and Flasks

American Pattern-Molded Bottles and Flasks

American bottles and flasks with pattern-molded designs have been produced from 1765 on. This same type has been made for centuries in Europe and England. A flask is a bottle, which has been flatten so it fits into a jacket pocket and also called a pocket bottle. The pattern-molded bottles and flasks were blown from a single gather of glass, patterned in either rib molds or pattern piece-molds having a simple (diamond pattern) or more elaborate designs. The Pitkin-type flask is part of this group and made by the half-post method and ornamented by pattern-molded ribbings. Both flasks can look alike; however the Pitkin flasks has a tell-tail ring of thicker glass around the neck (post) from the second dip of the half-post method. The examples below are from the Allaire Collection.

37A Pattern-molded flask

36A Pattern-molded flask 1800-1835

12A Dark amber swirl bottle

15A Aquamarine swirl bottle

11A American Scoll Flask with Fleur-de-lis 19th Century

58A Aquamarine Swirl bottle

64A Aquamarine swirl bottle 1800-1835

 

 

Pitkin Flask, Early American Glass

The American Pitkin Flask

Pitkin Flask: Small bottle of green glass in an ovoid and flattened shape made by the “Half-Post Method”. In this method a gather of glass called a post is put back in the POT and a second gather is put on it so it covers about half of the post. It is then put in a vertical ribbed pattern mold and partly expanded and removed from the mold then swirled right or left. Also there are types in which the ribs are left it the vertical position. In the case of the popcorn Pitkin it is put in the mold a second time vertical ribs are put over swirled ribs call a broken swirl double pattern. Then the flask is expanded to the ovoid and flattened shape.

Originally these flasks were made in The Pitkin Glass Works in Manchester,CT (1788-1830).They were made later in other parts of New England and in the Midwest (e. g. Zanesville, Ohio 1810-1830).Today they are classified as being New England Pitkins or Midwestern Pitkins. You can usually tell the difference by counting the ribs. The New England is 36 ribs and Midwestern 16 ribs. In addition to various shades of green they can be found in amber, blue (rare), amethyst (rare) and colorless glass. The flask came in two main sizes half pint and pint, used as a pocket flask for whiskey.

Ref: Spillman II #46

Front row A 19, A 43, Rear row A8, A39, A7

A54 Mid-western Half pint Pitkin 5 ½ inches

46A Mid-western popcorn Pitkin 6 inches

43A North Eastern Pitkin H: 5 ¼ inches

39A Mid-western Pitkin H: 6 ½ inches

19A Mid-western Pitkin H: 6 ¼ inches

08A Mid-Western Pitkin H: 6 ¼ inches

07A North Eastern Pitkin H: 6 ¾ inches

89A Half Pint New England Pitkin Flask, The size of the flask is smaller than the typical half pint Pitkin. H: 4 ¾ inches D: 1790-1830

54A Half pint Midwestern Pitkin H: 5 ½ inches D: 1810-1830

A Pair Of Early English Gin Glasses

Early English Gin Glasses (Pair)

This pair of small English glasses was probably used for drinking gin based on their size. They have a drawn trumpet bowl, solid stem and folded foot and are almost identical except for a variation in height.

H: 4 & 4 ½ inches

D: 18^th Century

Ref: Bickerton #344, #385

64E Pair of Early English Gin Glasses

ENGLISH PANELED BOWL WITH BLUE RIM

English Paneled Bowl

24E Paneled Bowl, English

A small colorless bowl is decorated with optic molded ribs continuing down and under the tooled flat foot. A single trail of clear blue glass encircles the edge of the rim.

H: 3 inches, Dia. 4 ¾ inches

D: 18^th Century