Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2014.

Bowl

Artist Ennion (probably active in Sidon, modern-day Lebanon)

CulturePhoenician | Roman

Datemid - 1st century C.E.

MediumMold-blown glass

Dimensions2 9/16 × 3 5/8 × 3 3/8 in., 0.1 lb. (6.5 × 9.2 × 8.6 cm, 64 g.)
Overall, Rim: 2 11/16 in. (6.8 cm)
Base: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm)
Other (Neck diameter): 2 11/16 in. (6.9 cm)

Signed“ENNIWN | EΠOIEI” ("Ennion made me" or "Ennion made it") in two lines, within tabula ansata

InscribedMold-blown inscription: “ENNIWN | EΠOIEI” ("Ennion made me" or "Ennion made it") in two lines, within tabula ansata

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.6779

Collections

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 116-1, Case 5

DescriptionBowl of mold-blown transparent bluish-green glass. Blown into a four-part mold. Dome bottom with concentric rings. Bottom half has "hairpin" like ribbing, and then a band of cross hatching with a "tabula ansata" field containing maker's inscription. Arranged in two rows, with a top band of additional "hairpin" ribbing and then a plain straight rim. Some weathering and iridescence present.

Label TextEnnion workshop Probably active in Sidon, Syria Bowl, ca. 50 c.e. Mold-blown glass Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.6779 Chrysler was a highly ambitious collector of glass, acquiring one of the rare works signed by ancient Greek glass artist Ennion.The Greek inscription in the rectangular cartouche on upper side reads ENNION/ENOIEI which translates to "Ennion made (it)." Approximately twenty relatively intact vessels survive from the Ennion workshop, which produced the finest and most well-known of the early Roman mold-blown glasses. ProvenancePurchased by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. from Royal-Athena Galleries, November 1966; gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to Chrysler Museum of Art, 1971.Exhibition HistoryIllustration used on WTAR TV show, 5/25/72. A 4 x 4 ft. blow-up of a color transparency of the "Ennion" bowl was used as collateral material for a packaging exhibition at Rampart Packaging (a subsidiary of Shell oil), James City County, VA, October 1984. "Ennion: Master of Roman Glass," Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, December 9, 2014 – April 13, 2015; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, May 15 – October 19, 2015. Published ReferencesCorning Museum of Glass, _Journal of Glass Studies_, VI, 34-41. Donald B. Harden, "Two Tomb-Groups of the First Century AD from Yahmour, Syria, and a Supplement to the List of Roman-Syrian Glasses with Mould-Blown Inscriptions," _Syria_ 24, 1944-45, p. 89 (A.3.b), pl. 8. Corning Museum of Glass, "Important Acquisitions," _Journal of Glass Studies X_ 1968, 181, item 6. Chrysler Museum at Norfolk Newsletter, Vol. I, No. 2, Apr. 1972, 2-3. Gusta Lehrer, _Ennion: A First Century Glassmaker_ exh. cat. (Tel Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 1979) 10. A. Engle, _Readings in Glass History_, No. 19, 1985, 80, "Bought in Sidon, c. 1915-1918 from Aziz Khyat, NY". D.B. Harden, _Glass of the Caesars_, 1987, 151-153. Nancy Merrill, _A Concise History of Glass Represented in the Chrysler Museum Glass Collection_ (Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art, 1989) 16, no. 4. Dan P. Barag, "Phoenicia and Mould-Blowing in the Early Roman Period," in _Annales du 13 Congrès de l'Association Internationale pour l'Historie du Verre, Pays Bas, 28 août - 1 Septembre 1995_ (Lochem: Association Internationale pour l'Historie du Verre, 1996) 77-92. Axel von Saldern, _Antikes Glas_ (Munich: Beck, 2004) 241. Gary Baker, "Glass," in _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 123-124, fig. 149. Christopher S. Lightfoot, _Ennion: Master of Roman Glass_ (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art with Yale University Press, 2014) 106, cat. 23. Diane C. Wright (editor), _Glass: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017), pg. 42-3.