Glass sprinkler flask, Syria, 226-637 AD
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This unusual, probably Syro-Palestinian sprinkler was blown out of light green transparent glass. It was probably made in Syria for the Eastern Market, possibly for Persia at the time of the Sasanian Kingdom (226-637 AD), before the Arab conquest (634-651 AD). A funnel mouth with an open projecting roll below the rim ends with a constriction and a diaphragm. The short, thick, twisted conical body is decorated with shallow tooled ribbing immediately below the neck. A spiral pattern of extra thicknesses of glass may have been produced by infolding. The bottom is smooth and deeply concave, with a large pontil scar. Parallels: “Jar. Ht. 9 cm. The body of this jar is ovoid in shape and rests on a concave bottom. It has a short neck extending into a funnel mouth. Below the rounded rim is an outfolded rib. Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine, late 3rd - 5th century AD” (Fortuna 1991:80 #146). “Topf. Ht. 9.6 cm. Naturglas. Syria, 3rd - 4th AD” (Münzen und Medaillen 1986:23 #81). Glass Sprinklers Sprinkers are bottles made with a constriction in the neck resembling a washer. This constriction regulates the flow of contents to a trickle, which is helpful with products that must be dispensed parcimoniously. The level of care in the decoration of sprinkers suggests that their contents were luxury items such as expensive fragrances. “[Sprinklers were] Made and widely used in Syria, Eastern Palestine, and Mesopotamia… The earliest sprinklers on record are those from Dura Europos in north Syria which date from before 256 when the city was abandoned… Production continued throughout the fourth century and perhaps into the fifth century. It has not been established when the sprinkler became obsolete. Syrian glassworkers made a large variety of vessels into sprinklers, simply by squeezing the neck with jacks and bushing the body up against the cut-in to create the diaphragm. Jars, tubes, amphorisks, and head-shaped flasks were occasionally finished as sprinklers” (Stern 2001:152). Bibliography (for this item)Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd.,1991 Shining Vessels: Ancient Glass from Greek, Roman, and Islamic Times. Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, NY. (80 # 146) Münzen und Medaillen, 1986 Auktion 70. Kunswerke der Antike. Münzen und Medaillen, Basel, Swizerland. (23 # 81) Stern, E. Marianne 2001 Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass; 10 BCE-700 CE; Ernesto Wolf Collection. Hatje Cantz Publishers, Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany. Bibliography (on Glass Sprinklers)Stern, E. Marianne2001 Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass; 10 BCE-700 CE; Ernesto Wolf Collection. Hatje Cantz Publishers, Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany. (152) |
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