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

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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.