Provenance Information

Collection of Jean-Hubert Demeulenaere, Paris, until 1985; sold at Hôtel Drouot Paris, June 3-4, 1985, lot 80. Sold by Fouat Alouf, Beirut, Lebanon, to S. Aboutaam, circa 1985; with Phoenix Ancient Art, New York and Geneva, until 1996. Acquired by Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer from Phoenix Ancient Art on August 2, 1996. Given by Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012.

Exhibition Information

The work was exhibited in connection with the Hôtel Drouot sale in 1985. The work has been on loan to, and on display at, the Metropolitan Museum of Art since April 2007.

Publication Information

Verres Antiques et de l’Islam, 34, lot 80 (Hôtel Drouot Paris sale catalog, 3-4 June 1985).

Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2014. Ennion: Master of Roman Glass. p. 41, fig. 29, p. 42, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2014. "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2012-2014." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 72(2): p. 13.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

This object was published in 1985 as part of a sale in Paris. It has been on loan to, and on display at, The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2007. Cast ribbed bowls form a distinctive type of Roman glassware, representing the final flowering of luxury cast glass tableware before the industry came to be dominated by blown vessels. They are known from throughout the Roman world, as well as beyond. This one is a particularly large and well-executed example and represents the best of its type in splendid condition. The Metropolitan Museum of Art does not own any other bowl of this size, shape, or quality.