Beaker

Notice of Upcoming Content and Access Change

The Museum is working on the future of our online collections access. A new version will be available later in 2023. During this transition period, the current version of the Collections Browser may have reduced functionality and data may be not be updated. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. For any questions or concerns, please contact us.

What is AAT?

The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) (r) is a structured vocabulary for generic concepts related to art and architecture. It was developed by The Getty Research Institute to help research institutions become consistent in the terminology they use.Learn More

Object Name: 
Beaker
Accession Number: 
68.1.9
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 12.6 cm; Rim Diam: 6.8 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
75-125
Primary Description: 
Light yellowish brown glass; blown in three-part mold. Cylindrical, tapering towards base. Rim slightly everted, unevenly cut, smoothed by fire-polishing; below rim shallow wheel incisions; body has straight side tapering towards base; flat base with concentric ridges and central dot. Molded decoration of four panels separated by columns with stepped bases and tall capitals; above capitals, alternating flame-like motifs and loops; above panels, gabled tops; below bases, string-course. Each panel has one standing figure: (a) the Roman god Mercury (male holding caduceus and purse or tortoise-shell) (b) the personification of Winter (female carrying staff with dead birds or animals and bow); (c) the hero Hercules (male carrying dead large animal), (d) Hymen (figure of uncertain sex with amphora and staff or sickle).
Department: 
Provenance: 
Hecht, Robert E. (American, 1919-2012), Source
1968
Category: 
Venue(s)
Metropolitan Museum of Art 2014-12-09 through 2015-04-13
Corning Museum of Glass 2015-05-16 through 2016-01-04
At the end of the first century B.C., glassmakers working in the environs of Jerusalem made a revolutionary breakthrough in the way glass was made. They discovered that glass could be inflated at the end of a hollow tube. This technical achievement—glassblowing—made the production of glass vessels much quicker and easier, and allowed glassmakers to develop new shapes and decorative techniques. One technique, inflating glass in molds carved with decorative and figural designs, was used to create multiple examples of a variety of vessel shapes with high-relief patterns. The molds used to shape this ancient glass were complex in their design, and the mold-blown glass vessels of ancient Rome tell a wealth of stories about the ancient world, from gladiators to perfume vessels, from portraits of a Roman empress to oil containers marked with the image of Mercury, Roman god of trade. Among the earliest workshops to design and create mold-blown glass was one in which a man named Ennion worked. Ennion was the first glassmaker to sign his glass objects by incorporating his name into the inscriptions that formed part of the mold’s design, and thus he stands among a small group of glass workers whose names have come down to us from antiquity. On view through January, 4, 2016, Ennion and His Legacy, is composed of mold-blown master works by Ennion and other Roman glassmakers. The works are drawn from the Corning Museum’s collection of Roman glass, one of the finest in the world. Within the larger exhibit is a smaller exhibit organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ennion: Master of Roman Glass, which focuses specifically on works made by Ennion. Composed of loans from a number of international institutions and private collections this exhibit within an exhibit brings together many of the known examples of Ennion’s wares and will be on view through October 19, 2015.
Glass of the Caesars
Venue(s)
British Museum 1987-11-18 through 1988-03-06
Romisch-Germanisches Museum 1988-04-15 through 1988-10-18
Musei Capitolini 1988-11-03 through 1989-01-31
Corning Museum of Glass
 
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, Volume Two (2001) illustrated, pp. 54-56, pl. 527; BIB# 58895
Mythological Beakers: A Re-Examination (1994) illustrated, pp. 30-31, figs. 1-4;
All About Glass = Garasu Daihyakka (1993) p. 30; BIB# 36566
Glass Capturing the Dance of Light (1993) illustrated, p. 62, bottom; BIB# AI30595
Fran Mesopotamien till medeltid (1990-01) p. 45; BIB# AI25904
Glass Of The Roman Empire (1988) illustrated, pp. 36-37, fig. 14; pp. 7, 9; BIB# 32608
Glass of the Caesars (1987) illustrated, p. 163, #85; BIB# 31831
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (postcards) (1987) illustrated, #15; BIB# 34348
Mold-Blown Beakers with Mythological Scenes (1972) illustrated, pp. 26-47, figs. 2, 4, 8;
Recent Important Acquisitions, 11 (1969) illustrated, p. 110, #5; BIB# AI97754