Gorgeous Greek Core Form Glass Alabastron
Ancient Greece, Classical Period, ca. 5th century BCE. An exemplary core-formed glass alabastron presenting a sophisticated ovoid body with smooth walls that flare inward toward the top, a splayed rim, and sinuous trailed lug handles. Formed from opaque sea blue glass with horizontal trails of tangerine yellow and cyan, the elegant vessel displays graceful spirals of tangerine along the top, a feathered or herring-bone pattern on its body, and a lovely pair of tangerine trails near its base. The petite trailed lug handles applied to the shoulders are also formed from opaque tangerine glass. A divine work of glass art to be treasured for its impeccable form, beautiful hues, and sophisticated technique. Size: 1.2" Diameter x 3.8" H (3 cm x 9.7 cm); 4.4" H (11.2 cm) on included custom stand.
The alabastron is a long-bodied vessel with a rounded bottom, a cylindrical neck, and a flat disk for a mouth. Though usually without handles, some alabastra have eyes or lugs, like this example. According to the Beazley Archive of the University of Oxford, the alabastron shape's history extends back to Corinth, but was only preserved in Athenian pottery examples back to the mid-sixth century BCE. Alabastra were created in many materials, including alabaster, and the Greek term for this stone - alabastron (most likely of Egyptian origin) - was the source of inspiration for the name of this shaped vessel. Many examples were finished with a white ground, as if to imitate this stone. We know from vase painting imagery of women using alabastra following a bath, that these vessels most likely held perfumed oils.
Glassblowing was an exciting process in the Classical World - not without drama according to this passage, "The workman having quarried it, brought the glass and put in the fire the mass hard as iron, and the glass, set afire by the all-devouring flames, run out melted like wax. And to men it was a marvel to see a trail flowing from the fire, and the workman trembling lest it should fall and break; and on the points of the double forceps he put the lump. (Anthology Palatine XVI.323 - the Collection of Greek poems and epigrams that were discovered in 1606 in the Palatine Library in Heidelberg - Loeb translation by W.R. Paton (1979), vol. 5, p.353.
According to the Corning Museum of Glass, core forming is "the technique of forming a vessel by winding or gathering molten glass around a core supported by a rod. After forming, the object is removed from the rod and annealed. After annealing, the core is removed by scraping." This process of glass making was begun in the late 16th century BCE by glassmakers of Mesopotamia, and then adopted by Egyptian glassmakers in the 15th century BCE. The technique almost came to an end in the so-called Dark Ages of Mediterranean civilization (1200 to 900 BCE); however, by the 9th century BCE a new generation of glassmakers took up the technique once again, and between the 6th and 4th century BCE core-forming spread throughout the Mediterranean.
Provenance: private East Coast collection, New York, USA; ex-East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#149866
Condition Report: Areas of repair and restoration to rim and neck. Loss to bottom of 1 handle. Expected nicks and abrasions with a rough area near the base. Otherwise, excellent with thick encrustations on interior.
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Ancient Greece, Classical Period, ca. 5th century BCE. An exemplary core-formed glass alabastron presenting a sophisticated ovoid body with smooth walls that flare inward toward the top, a splayed rim, and sinuous trailed lug handles. Formed from opaque sea blue glass with horizontal trails of tangerine yellow and cyan, the elegant vessel displays graceful spirals of tangerine along the top, a feathered or herring-bone pattern on its body, and a lovely pair of tangerine trails near its base. The petite trailed lug handles applied to the shoulders are also formed from opaque tangerine glass. A divine work of glass art to be treasured for its impeccable form, beautiful hues, and sophisticated technique. Size: 1.2" Diameter x 3.8" H (3 cm x 9.7 cm); 4.4" H (11.2 cm) on included custom stand.
The alabastron is a long-bodied vessel with a rounded bottom, a cylindrical neck, and a flat disk for a mouth. Though usually without handles, some alabastra have eyes or lugs, like this example. According to the Beazley Archive of the University of Oxford, the alabastron shape's history extends back to Corinth, but was only preserved in Athenian pottery examples back to the mid-sixth century BCE. Alabastra were created in many materials, including alabaster, and the Greek term for this stone - alabastron (most likely of Egyptian origin) - was the source of inspiration for the name of this shaped vessel. Many examples were finished with a white ground, as if to imitate this stone. We know from vase painting imagery of women using alabastra following a bath, that these vessels most likely held perfumed oils.
Glassblowing was an exciting process in the Classical World - not without drama according to this passage, "The workman having quarried it, brought the glass and put in the fire the mass hard as iron, and the glass, set afire by the all-devouring flames, run out melted like wax. And to men it was a marvel to see a trail flowing from the fire, and the workman trembling lest it should fall and break; and on the points of the double forceps he put the lump. (Anthology Palatine XVI.323 - the Collection of Greek poems and epigrams that were discovered in 1606 in the Palatine Library in Heidelberg - Loeb translation by W.R. Paton (1979), vol. 5, p.353.
According to the Corning Museum of Glass, core forming is "the technique of forming a vessel by winding or gathering molten glass around a core supported by a rod. After forming, the object is removed from the rod and annealed. After annealing, the core is removed by scraping." This process of glass making was begun in the late 16th century BCE by glassmakers of Mesopotamia, and then adopted by Egyptian glassmakers in the 15th century BCE. The technique almost came to an end in the so-called Dark Ages of Mediterranean civilization (1200 to 900 BCE); however, by the 9th century BCE a new generation of glassmakers took up the technique once again, and between the 6th and 4th century BCE core-forming spread throughout the Mediterranean.
Provenance: private East Coast collection, New York, USA; ex-East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
#149866
Condition Report: Areas of repair and restoration to rim and neck. Loss to bottom of 1 handle. Expected nicks and abrasions with a rough area near the base. Otherwise, excellent with thick encrustations on interior.
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Time, Location
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