Amphoriskos

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Object Name: 
Amphoriskos
Accession Number: 
58.1.38
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 18.5 cm, Diam (max) : 6.6 cm; Rim Diam (max): 2.5 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
225-100 BCE
Web Description: 
Another notable achievement of Hellenistic glassmakers was the production of cast mosaic vessels with sections of preformed canes. A cane consists of thin, monochrome rods bundled together and fused to form a polychrome design that is visible when seen in cross section. It can be cut into slices that are arranged to form intricate patterns. Although earlier craftsmen had made glass mosaic inlays and plaques, the use of mosaic canes in the manufacture of vessels was virtually unknown until the late third century B.C. The jar shown here was made in two parts, presumably because it was difficult to fashion tall, narrow objects in mosaic glass. The opposed pairs of perforations in the upper neck and at the shoulder show that this object originally had two handles and was a miniature amphora.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Tozzi, Piero, Source
1958-10-27
Primary Description: 
Glass and gold foil; star canes with opaque yellow centers, opaque white rays imbedded in a deep blue matrix, irregular chips of opaque white and colorless glass sandwiching gold foil, some pitting, possibly some recent surface grinding; mosaic glass or millefiori technique, later tooled and lathe-polished. (a) Inverted Pyriform body slopes in a slightly convex profile toward point which has been tooled and extended to form a short truncated conical foot, shoulder has been ground and beveled to receive the upper section; two holes just below top are opposite each other and correspond to holes in the shoulder; the body retains chips of white glass as well as gold glass chips whereas the top contains only gold glass chips. The neck and base have been tooled and twisted after the form was cast, the rods and chips are in a swirling pattern; chips of gold glass can be seen in this pattern while canes in the foot remain undisturbed. (b) Rim rounded by tooling and reheating flared out slightly from long cylindrical neck, wall spreads out to gently sloping shoulder, lip is beveled with concave profile to fit into body; shoulder preserves two holes, opposite each other, two more holes below rim on neck.
The Fragile Art: Extraordinary Objects from The Corning Museum of Glass
Venue(s)
Park Avenue Armory 2009-01-23 through 2009-02-01
The 55th Annual Winter Antiques Show
Designs in Miniature: The Story of Mosaic Glass
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 1995-06-03 through 1995-10-22
 
The Art of Glass: Masterpieces from The Corning Museum of Glass
Venue(s)
IBM Gallery 1989-12-12 through 1990-02-02
National Gallery of Art 1990-12-09 through 1991-04-14
Decorative and utilitarian works from the Corning Museum of Glass, surveying 35 centuries of glass-making technology and stylistic developments from ancient Egyptian, Roman, Islamic, and Asian cultures to contemporary American and European examples. The works were selected by Corning Museum staff members Dwight P. Lanmon, director and curator of European glass; David B. Whitehouse, curator of ancient and Islamic glass; Jane Shadel Spillman, curator of American glass; and Susanne K. Frantz, curator of 20th-century glass.
Gold-Band Glass: From Hellenistic to Roman Luxury Glass Production (2019) illustrated, p. 15 (fig. 3);
Pergamon and the Hellenistic kingdoms of the ancient world (2016) illustrated, p. 258; BIB# 144264
Glass: A Short History (Smithsonian Books edition) (2012) illustrated, p. 28; BIB# 130360
Glass: A Short History (The British Museum edition) (2012) illustrated, p. 28; BIB# 135965
Liu li: Nü wa de yi zhen (2008) illustrated, p. 67; BIB# 167237
Flameworking Through the Ages (2006) illustrated, p. 1; BIB# 94524
Antikes Glas (Handbuch der Archaologie) (2004) illustrated, p. 129 (Taf. 111); BIB# 83444
Designs in Miniature: The Story of Mosaic Glass (1995) illustrated, pp. 13-14; p. 13, Fig. 13; BIB# 26765
The Corning Museum of Glass, Curators' Choice (1995) illustrated, #2; BIB# 36655
A Short History of Glass (1990 edition) (1990) illustrated, p. 26, #15; BIB# 33211
L'Histoire du Verre: A Travers Les Tresors du Musee de Corning (1990) illustrated, pp. 58-59;
Story of Glass Coloring Book (1981) illustrated, p. 11 left; BIB# 67749
A Short History of Glass (1980 edition) (1980) illustrated, p. 24, #15; BIB# 21161
Pre-Roman and Early Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (1979) illustrated, pp. 176-177, #461, pls. 21, 40 (a, b); BIB# 29547
Visual Art in Glass (1968) p. 17, fig. 4;
Millefiori Glass in Classical Antiquity (1968) illustrated, pp. 51-52, fig. 7; BIB# AI83734
Ancient Glass at Corning (1962) p. 28, fig. 4; BIB# AI58241
Recent Important Acquisitions, 1 (1959) illustrated, pp. 106-107, #4; BIB# AI97751