Ewer

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Object Name: 
Ewer
Maker(s): 
Accession Number: 
59.1.76
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 23.8 cm, Diam (max): 10.8 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
30-70
Web Description: 
Ennion’s name is in the panel beneath the handle.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Smith, Ray Winfield (American, 1897-1982), Source
1959-07-27
Category: 
Color: 
Material: 
Inscription: 
ENNIωN/ EПOIEI
inscription
below handle in tabula ansata Greek
Primary Description: 
Ewer. Transparent amber glass with impurities and small bubbles; body and neck blown in four-part mold, handle applied. Jug with cylindrical neck, ovoid body and pedestal base (missing). Rim outsplayed, folded upward and inward; wide cylindrical neck; trace of pedestal base; handle with two ribs, which rises above and overhangs mouth, attached to shoulder and rim. Mold-blown decoration in four registers on neck and body: (a) on neck, vertical flutes with rounded ends, with four cordons beneath; (b) on shoulder, continuous spray of alternate upright and inverted palmettes, attached to lowest cordon beneath (a); (c) beneath three cordons, band of honeycomb pattern of many lozenges, with tabula ansata containing inscription "ENNIωN/ EПOIEI" ('Ennion makes [it]') in Greek; (d) with two cordons above and below, vertical flutes rounded at top.
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
 
Glass from the Ancient World
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 1957-06-04 through 1957-09-15
An Exhibition of Augustan Art
Venue(s)
Metropolitan Museum of Art 1939
 
Ancient and Islamic Glass: Selections from the Corning Museum of Glass (2019) illustrated, pp. 59-60;
The Decanter: Ancient to Modern (2018) illustrated, p. 206 (fig. 1);
Annales du ... Congrès de l'Association internationale pour l'histoire du verre (2018) illustrated, p. 659, fig. 2;
Ennion and His Legacy: Mold-Blown Glass from Ancient Rome (Antiques and The Arts Weekly) (2015-07-10) illustrated, p. 9C (bottom row); BIB# AI100463
Mould-Blown Glass from Ancient Rome (2015-07) illustrated, p. 11 (top); BIB# AI100202
Ennion, Master of Roman Glass: Further Thoughts (2015) illustrated, p. 106; BIB# AI100798
Ennion and His Legacy: Mold-Blown Glass from Ancient Rome (The Gather) (2015) illustrated, p. 5;
Corning Museum of Glass Calendar (2015) illustrated, p. 1 (middle); BIB# AI98718
Mold-Blown Glass: Roman and American (2015) illustrated, p. 7 (right); BIB# AI100138
Ennion: Master of Roman Glass (2014) illustrated, p. 53, 76-77 (cat. no. 4); BIB# 142184
Escort Guide to the Galleries (2013) illustrated, p. 12; BIB# 134015
Escort Guide to the Galleries [V4/2013] (2013) illustrated, p. 12; BIB# 134856
Glass: A Short History (Smithsonian Books edition) (2012) illustrated, p. 32; BIB# 130360
Glass: A Short History (The British Museum edition) (2012) illustrated, p. 32; BIB# 135965
The illustrated encyclopedia of glass (2011) illustrated, p. 223; BIB# 128671
The Corning Museum of Glass (2009-01) illustrated, p. 234, Fig. 4;
Corning Museum of Glass (2009-01) illustrated, p. 4; BIB# 109342
Favorite Things (2008) illustrated, back cover; BIB# AI101007
Frabel: Excellence in Glass Art (2007) illustrated, p. 55; BIB# 100291
The Decanter: An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650 (2004) illustrated, p. 281, pl. 395; BIB# 67221
Antikes Glas (Handbuch der Archaologie) (2004) illustrated, p. 241 (Taf. 210); BIB# 83444
Jurors' Choice (2003) illustrated, p. 40; BIB# AI98544
Glass: making use of the secrets of matter (2003) illustrated, p. 33; BIB# 76451
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, Volume Two (2001) illustrated, pp. 19-20, pl. 483; BIB# 58895
The Encyclopedia of Glass (2001) illustrated, p.183; BIB# 69319
Beauty of Glass (2000) illustrated, p. 58; BIB# 77736
Enciclopedia Dell'Arte Antica, classica e orientale (1997) illustrated, p. 1024, fig. 1300, right;
Roman Glass: Reflections on Everyday Life (1997) illustrated, p. 12 (plate 9); BIB# 41305
La Fenice di Sabbia: Storia e Tecnologia del vetro Antico (1995) illustrated, p. 27, fig. 41; p. 28; p. 40, pl. 41; BIB# 39935
Das Glas in der Antike (1992) p. 150;
Seasons Greetings from Sherry-Lehmann (1990/11) illustrated, p. 53; BIB# 90994
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History From The Corning Museum of Glass (1990) illustrated, pp. 42-43, pl. 13; BIB# 33819
A Short History of Glass (1990 edition) (1990) illustrated, pp. 22-23, #13; p. 27; BIB# 33211
L'Histoire du Verre: A Travers Les Tresors du Musee de Corning (1990) illustrated, p. 58;
Glass Of The Roman Empire (1988) illustrated, pp. 34-35, fig. 13; pp. 7, 9; BIB# 32608
Title Unknown (New England Antiques Journal) (1987-03) illustrated, p. 10;
Glass of the Caesars (1987) illustrated, p. 166, #87; BIB# 31831
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (postcards) (1987) illustrated, #14; BIB# 34348
Book of Glass (1986) p. 40;
Roman Glass in Italy: The Origin of An Industry (1984) illustrated, p. 50;
Garasu Nyumon (Introduction to Glass) (1983) illustrated, p. 96; BIB# 32417
The Magic of Glass and the Surface of Monaco from Midtec (1983) illustrated, p. 4 (left); BIB# 22508
A Short History of Glass (1980 edition) (1980) illustrated, p. 23, #13; BIB# 21161
Glass from the Ancient World: The Ray Winfield Smith Collection (1957) illustrated, pp. 56-57, #67; BIB# 27315
A History of Technology (1956) p. 322, fig. 300, drawing; BIB# 20319
The Social & Economic History of the Hellenistic World (1953) p. 1022, pl. XIC (#1); BIB# 18810
The Social & Economic History of the Hellenistic World (1941) p. 1022, pl. XIC, #1; BIB# 18815
Houston Chronicle (1939-09-07)
Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mould-Blown Inscriptions (1935) p. 168;