Glass beaker with cut decoration

Unknown

4th–early 5th century CE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Translucent pale blue. Vertical rim, cracked-off and ground flat, with bulge below; conical body with side tapering gently downwards; solid projecting knob on bottom. Wheel-abraded decoration comprising at top two broad horizontal bands of lines, enclosing Greek letters with a diagonal band of short lines marking the beginning and/or end of the inscription; at center, a broad frieze containing two bunches of stylized grapes suspended from a T bar and flanked by wavy ribbons, alternating around side with two eight-armed stars; below, two bands of two horizontal lines flanking a band of short diagonal lines. Intact; a few bubbles; faint iridescent weathering, with slight soil encrustation at bottom of interior. The Greek inscription PIE ZHCHC (Drink [so that] you may live [well]) is an exhortation commonly found on both pottery and glass vessels. It probably echoes the kind of toast that would have been given at a drinking or dinner party. This beaker was likely made and decorated at a workshop in Syria, demonstrating that glassmakers (vitrarii) worked closely with glass cutters (diatretarii) in the production of glass tableware.

Artist

Unknown

Date

4th–early 5th century CE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Smith Fund, 1913