GUTTUS     
Cemetery of El Albir (l’Alfaç del Pi)

Glass
h: 7.5 cm; l: 4.1 cm; w: 3.6 cm
Roman
5th century AD

 

Ungüent bottle of blown glass made in a bivalve mould. It is in the shape of two human heads with the faces on opposite sides, which gives the glass vessel a bulbous shape. It represents both sides of the face of a youth, who has been interpreted by some as Cupid, framed by his curly hair. The neck of the bottle is cylindrical and the rim is missing, however, by comparing it with similar objects it is thought that it would have been funnel shaped. The face on one of the sides is nearly complete, apart from the mouth, but the face on the other side is mostly lost, with only the outline and the hair surviving.

This type of mould blown glass comes from eastern workshops, mainly in Syria or Palestine, from where it was distributed throughout the Mediterranean by means of a fruitful trade. These types of vessels were also produced in the west, as examples have been found in a glass workshop in Rome. In the Iberian Peninsula very few examples of this type of glass object have been found; one is in the museum of the Roman cemetery at Carmona, Seville and another in the Ibizan Collection of D. José Cuesta “Picarol”, both of which date to the 5th century AD. At the end of this century, this type of object was replaced in the market by those decorated with Christian iconography, which were more in accordance with the tastes of the time.
C.S.: 5811
SÁNCHEZ DE PRADO, Mª D., 2001.
FUENTES DOMÍNGUEZ, A. 2004.
FOY, D. 1995.