Become a Member

Skip to main content
Collections Menu

Artwork

Advanced Search
Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Marie Smith Schwartz.
Beaker
Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Marie Smith Schwartz.
Contact us at copyright@samuseum.org for rights and reproduction of this image.

Beaker

DepartmentAncient Mediterranean Art
CultureRoman
Date1st century A.D.
MediumGlass
Dimensionsh. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm)
rim diam. 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm)
base diam. 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm)
Credit LinePurchased with funds provided by Mrs. Marie Smith Schwartz
Object number92.77.1
GeographyDescriptionMold-blown beaker of light green glass. The cup was blown in a three-part mold. The design on the body consists of four rows of almond-shaped bosses or knobs, interspersed with small raised dots. There is a single incised band below the plain, lathe-polished rim. The base is a fourth molded piece of glass decorated with a pattern of concentric circles.Label TextThe raised knobs on this conical beaker may have been intended to resemble the knots on a tree trunk. Similar cups have been found in many regions of the Roman Empire. They may have evoked the hero Hercules, who carried a wooden club and was renowned for his drinking as well as his mythological labors. Glassworkers made the thin-walled vessel by blowing molten glass into a mold, a technique invented in the first century A.D. (J. Powers, 2025)Provenancesold by Antiquarium Ltd., New York, to San Antonio Museum of Art, 1992Exhibition History"Poor Man's Crystal: Utilitarian Glass from Ancient Rome, ca. 50 B.C. - A.D. 450," Wesleyan University, Connecticut, March 28- May 25, 2003.

“Mediterráneo—Egipto, Grecia y Roma: Vidrio, Escultura y Relieves de la Antigüedad Clasica,” Museo del Vidrio, Monterrey, Mexico, Apr. 27-Nov. 7, 2004.Published ReferencesC. R. Richardson, Poor Man's Crystal: Utilitarian Glass from Ancient Rome, ca. 50 B.C. - A.D. 450 (San Antonio: San Antonio Museum of Art, 2003), cat. no. 13.
On view
Collections
San Antonio Museum of Art, Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Jug with Christian motifs
Culture: Byzantine
6th-7th century A.D.
San Antonio Museum of Art, Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Lamp
Culture: Roman
4th - 5th century A.D.
Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Perfume Flask
9th-10th century
Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Miniature Flask
Culture: Islamic
9th-10th century A.D.
San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of C. Thomas Wright.
Grid Seven Saranac
Thomas Downing
1971
Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Qumqum (Sprinkler)
12th-13th century
Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Beaker
Culture: Islamic
13th century
San Antonio Museum of Art, Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Sprinkler bottle
Culture: Roman
3rd-4th century A.D.
Jug
Jug
Culture: Roman
4th century A.D.
Purchased with funds provided by the Bessie Timon Endowment Fund.
Crown
Culture: Liao, Khitan
907-1125
Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection.
Miniature Flask
Culture: Islamic
9th-10th century A.D.
Jug
Jug
Culture: Roman
2nd-3rd century A.D.

The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.

© 2019 San Antonio Museum of Art. All rights reserved.