Early Islamic Glass Pitcher with Trailed Body & Handle

Syro-Palestinian region, Late Roman to early Islamic era. A free-blown jug in translucent pale olive glass, with a pear-shaped body, a short cylindrical neck, and a slightly flared rim. A looped handle rises from the shoulder to the rim, and a trail encircles the base of the neck. The body is covered with thick applied trails of the same glass, arranged in intersecting arcs that form a raised network from the shoulder to the lower body. The jug stands on a round applied foot. Trailing is one of the oldest ways of decorating glass by hand. The worker pulls a thread of molten glass from a gather and winds it onto the vessel while the vessel is still hot. The thread can be left raised, as here, or pressed flat into the wall. In the Near East, the technique continued from late Roman workshops into Sasanian Persia and then into the glasshouses of the early Islamic period. Small trailed jars and flasks are made in all of these traditions, so the shape alone is often not enough to tell their work apart. Item # 205283

Estimate:$500

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