Artwork Details
- Title
- Aryballos (Oil Flask)
- Artist
- Unidentified (Roman Empire)
- Date
- 1st-4th century AD
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 3 1⁄4 × 2 1⁄4 in. diam. (8.3 × 5.7 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of John Gellatly
- Mediums Description
- blown and applied hot-worked glass
- Classifications
- Object Number
- 1929.8.157.19
Artwork Description
Ancient glass beguiled artists and connoisseurs with its rich colors and irregularities--signs of hand workmanship that distinguished these vessels from factory-made glass. For John Gellatly, such imperfections likely added to their value; these were favorites within his vast collection, objects that he allegedly "sat fingering late into the night," according to a reporter at the time of their donation to the Smithsonian Institution.
Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano, 2021.