On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Jar,
578–636 CE
Late Antiquity, ca. 476–700 CE
y1939-122
The worn-down intaglio decoration on this small jar—rounded arches with columns framing a cross that surmounts an orb and the crucified Christ with outstretched hands—indicates its devotional function. The distinct hexagonal shape of the jar suggests that it was made in a mold. In this process, the glass was blown into a clay or metal mold incised with shallow decorative elements to define the vessel’s shape and enable its replication with greater efficiency. During the Byzantine Empire, glass production sites were particularly common in the area that is present-day Syria and Palestine as well as in Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor, and artisans produced both traditional vessels as well as new forms that fulfilled the needs of the new Christian rituals. In particular, as Christians began undertaking pilgrimages to sacred places and sites that housed sacred relics, they often purchased souvenirs, such as this jar, to take with them.
Information
Title
Jar
Dates
578–636 CE
Medium
Transparent dark brownish glass
Dimensions
h. 7.3 cm, diam. rim 5 cm, diam. base 5 cm, width of a side 5.2 cm, th. 0.25 cm (2 7/8 x 1 15/16 x 1 15/16 x 2 1/16 x 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Object Number
y1939-122
Place Made
Jerusalem, Levant
Description
In-folded, out-splayed rim. Short neck, hexagonal body, horizontal shoulder, and slightly concave bottom. In the mold-blown panels on the body, three panels with concentric lozenges alternate with three featuring what appears to be an everted, depressed globe surmounted by a cross. Below is a rounded arch on two columns with schematic capitals and bases. All motifs are inscribed in dotted frames and all decoration is rendered in recessed intaglio. At the center of the bottom is an annular pontil mark, 1 cm. wide.
Materials
Subject
Purchased by the Museum from John Khayat
Hexagonal jar with mold-blown decoration
- Slobodan Curcic and Archer St. Clair, Byzantium at Princeton: Byzantine art and archaeology at Princeton University: catalogue of an exhibition at Firestone Library, Princeton University, August 1 through October 26, 1986, (Princeton, NJ: Dept. of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton University Library, Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections, 1986)., cat. no. 160; p. 131
- Anastassios Antonaras, Fire and Sand: Ancient Glass in the Princeton University Art Museum (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2012), cat. no. 504 (illus.)
