Amphoriskos

Glassware

Museum of Antiquities - University of Saskatchewan

Front

Amphoriskos 2019-08-14

Name/Title

Amphoriskos

Entry/Object ID

11NE-Mi55-191

Description

The rim is flattened with a wide funnel mouth. A portion of the rim and one handle is restored. From the rim, the neck flares downwards into a cylindrical shape then flares out again at the sloped shoulders. The vertical strap handles lower from just below the rim to the shoulders. The body is conical and vertically ribbed with combed yellow and blue glass threads that decorate the vessel. The body tapers to the base that ends with an applied yellow and blue knob.

Use

Cosmetic, Perfume Vessel

Context

This vessel imitates the shape of ceramic amphoriskoi vessels from Greece which contained oil or wine. Created by core-forming, this technique was first developed in the Near East, but in the sixth century BCE the industry moved west into the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean vessels are classified into three successive groups, Group I, II, and III; this vessel falls under Group I. When the industry first was established in the west, Rhodes, Greece became a primary manufacturer. It's theorized that this technique was brought to the Mediterranean by Mesopotamian craftsmen who emigrated westwards in the seventh century BCE or was adopted by locals of Rhodes.

Made/Created

Date made

600 BCE - 500 BCE

Time Period

Archaic

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Area

Eastern Mediterranean

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

10 cm

Diameter

6 cm

Material

Glass

Web Links and URLs

Getty Museum Online Database, The British Museum Online Database

Research Notes

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Hayes, John W. Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto: The Royal Ontario Museum, 1975. Note Page 10, Cat.12.

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Israeli, Yael. Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 2003. Note Page 55, Cat. 37.

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Grose, David Frederick. The Toledo Museum of Art Early Ancient Glass: Core Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50. New York: Hudson Hill Press, 1989. Note Page 126-127; Page 144, Cat. 99.

Research Type

Reference

Notes

Blomme, Annelore, Jan Elsen, Dieter Brems, Andrew Shortland, Elissavet Dotika, and Patrick Degryse. "Tracing the Primary Production Location of Core-Formed Glass Vessels, Mediterranean Group I." The Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 5 (2016): 1-9. Note Page 2.