The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Conical glass bowl

Art Object

Historic Images of the Greek Bronze Age: The Reproductions of E. Gilliéron and Son

Seán Hemingway, curator, Department of Greek and Roman Art, discusses early twentieth-century reproductions of works from Sir Arthur Evans's historic excavations of Minoan Crete and Heinrich Schliemann's Mycenaean Greece.

This lecture was recorded on September 9, 2011, in conjunction with the exhibition Historic Images of the Greek Bronze Age: The Reproductions of E. Gilliéron & Son, on view May 17, 2011, through June 17, 2012.

Eros, God of Love
(00:49:32) 830 views

Conical glass bowl

Period:: Late Hellenistic
Date:: mid-2nd–early 1st century B.C.
Culture:: Greek, Eastern Mediterranean
Medium:: Glass; cast and cut
Dimensions:: H.: 2 15/16 x 4 in. (7.5 x 10.2 cm)
Classification:: Glass
Credit Line:: Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1881
Accession Number:: 81.10.243

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 162

Description

Colorless with slight yellow tinge.
Uneven, rounded rim; straight side, tapering diagonally downward; convex bottom.
On interior, two horizontal grooves cut in a band below rim and another band of two broader grooves around middle of side; on exterior, a band of two concentric circles around bottom with a small central circle.
Intact; pinprick bubbles; dulling, pitting, and iridescent weathering.
Rotary grinding marks on interior; many surface scratches on exterior.

Hemispherical and conical bowls were two of the most common and popular shapes of the Late Hellenistic period. They were fashioned not only in glass but also in metal and pottery. Those made of glass were later supplanted by deeply colored varieties and by bowls decorated with tooled ribs.
Provenance

Said to be from Syria (Froehner 1879, p. 138, pl. VII, 40)

Until 1881, collection of Jules Charvet, Le Pecq, Île-de-France; 1881, purchased from J. Charvet by Henry G. Marquand; acquired in 1881, gift of Henry G. Marquand.
References

Froehner, W. 1879. La verrerie antique: déscription de la Collection Charvet. Le Pecq: J. Charvet, Chateau du Donjon, p. 61; 78, no. 8; 94; pl. VII, 40; p. 138.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1881. Twelfth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Association for eight months ending December 31, 1881. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 215-216.
See also
What
Glass (16,037)

Drinking vessels (6,032)

Bowls (5,014)

Cups (3,861)

Mastoi (7)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Greece (6,287)
When
1000 B.C.-A.D. 1 (23,148)
In the Museum
Greek and Roman Art (17,329)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Ancient Greece, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.