Ennion

Hexagonal amphoriscus with signature of Ennion in the Metropolitan Museum

Ennion was an ancient glassblower who lived and worked in the first half of the first century AD. Up to now, Ennion is only known for his signed works, high-quality works of antique glass art. His vessels are blown into shapes. Over 30 works are signed, other works are assigned to him for stylistic reasons. It is believed that he worked in a workshop in Sidon .

Ancient Sidon as the center of glass production

The name was probably Hellenized or Semitic. So Ennion was perhaps a Phoenician or a Jew. In research it is often only noticed because of blown glass; Information about him is difficult to grasp, Sidon as a place name does not appear on blown glass, but "only" in a pressed form on blown glass. The city became famous for glass art in Roman times at the latest (probably a millennium earlier). Nevertheless, there are references to very early form-blown glass from Sidon (e.g. in the iconography of the hexagonal bottles of the bird type), as well as text passages from Pliny, Strabo, Flavius ​​Josephus and Tacitus, according to which Sidon had a leading role in glass production and benefited from the fact that suitable sand was found in the mouth of the Belus River (which flows into the Mediterranean Sea). According to EM Stern , the Pliny passage is to be interpreted in such a way that glass from Sidon was already somewhat out of fashion in the 3rd quarter of the 1st century, but before that it was regarded as particularly high quality. The period of this high reputation is dated to 40–45 AD (due to Pliny), i. H. exactly during Ennion's creative time.

According to Pliny, Sidon was famous for 1. Flatu figurare (glass blowing) 2. Torno terere (the lathe method? Controversial → Lierke) 3. Argenti modo caelare (engraving similar to silver vessels)

Many glassblowers are only known through inscriptions, but the name could just as well refer to the owner of the contents if it was a question of storage or transport containers (this does not apply to drinking vessels). In the case of workshop signatures, the addition "officina" ("workshop") usually appears; the workshop name is also used for individual glassblowers.

There are no testimonies or traces of Roman or pre-Roman glass production for workshops that were working in parallel during Ennion's time, despite the fact that there were certain Roman glass workshops in post-Roman times. Glassmakers such as Artas, Philippos and Neikon from the 1st half of the 1st century AD are known for two-handled blown bowls (the names and hometown Sidon are in Greek and Latin letters pressed into the thumb plates of their vessels). Other glassmakers from this time are besides Ennion Aristeas (Ennion was particularly emulated and used very similar shapes), Jason and Meges. They made high quality, blow molded mugs, pitchers, and two-handled bowls. The works of the glassblowers from Sidon are provided with inscriptions ("Ennion made it"), the hometown is rarely given, Aresteas describes himself on a bowl as a Cypriot ("Kyprios"). There is a suspicion that Artas and other glassblowers who use Greek and Roman script were active in Rome and only gave Sidon (as a "seal of quality"?). The origins of the Roman glass industry have yet to be investigated: There is no evidence of Roman glass production before the end of the republic (glass is hardly mentioned by writers beforehand).

Presumably the first Roman glassmakers originally came to Central Italy via Alexandria (and this led to the import of the late Hellenistic style for cast, cut, cut and polished glasses, which were common before the introduction of the glass pipe), so these glassblowers did not establish Roman production. According to Grose, it was only after the 1st half of the 1st century that the glassblowers increasingly supplanted the casting molding process. The style of Ennion and Aristeas is called "Sidonian" because it is easy to recognize. More pieces are known by Ennion, so he seems to have a larger repertoire of forms.

Nevertheless, there are many similarities: Both related multi-part forms with flat negative reliefs (intaglio) to achieve flat reliefs on the vessels; both signed their works in Tabulae ansatae and for the decor they resorted to late Hellenist / early Roman. Elements that were used in metalworking. The decor is a bit more stylized in Aristeas, but both prefer ribbons with geometric or floral representations. The type of vertical groove is quite diverse in both, but a petal-like tongue with small spines only occurs in Ennion. The similarities of the ornaments in the middle frieze are seen as an indication of an acquaintance between Aristeas and Ennion - the honeycomb-shaped hexagons probably go back to Ennion, while some of the stylized, floral motifs go back to Aristeas. Customers in the Eastern Mediterranean seem to have preferred different patterns than those from Italy.

Dating / location

Ennion has probably been producing glass since the first quarter of the 1st century AD, as it already had trade contacts in the 2nd quarter; this is indicated by two signed (tabulae ansatae) fragments from Corinth, in the context of which a coin from Emperor Caligula (37-41) was found. A cup from Italy was found together with a Claudius coin from 46 AD, on which the complete signature has been preserved. There are also fragments of ivy and vine tendrils that were found in southern France and are also associated with Claudius coins. The blue cup from Kempten with the inscription "May the buyer remember", of which three fragments were found, cannot be precisely dated (Tiberian-Claudian), but shows that Ennion was so successful shortly before the middle of the 1st century had that he exported there (since all of these vessels were also used for some time, it is possible that they are significantly older).

Thanks to finds from Greece, Spain, Morocco, France and southern Germany, one can also assume that Ennion did not emigrate from Sidon to Italy, but local workshops took over its forms, although there is no evidence or counter-evidence for this, however, the spread via trade is considered It is more likely to be assumed, since from the locations of the Italian pieces one can infer a typical trade route across the Adriatic and the Po, over which during the 1st half of the 1st century BC. BC ceramics from Asia Minor were also traded. In addition, Sidon was a city with many, even distant, trade connections, and three fragmentary vessels signed by him were unearthed there, one found in nearby Jerusalem and one in Syria.

Special pieces

Glass jug with Ennion's signature in the Metropolitan Museum

Glass cup ( Ennon Cup ) with signature of Ennion in the Metropolitan Museum

Ennion's Glass Goblet - Found during excavations in a wealthy villa in Old Jerusalem, the Ennion's signature goblet broke and deformed due to the fire in September 70 AD when the Romans conquered Jerusalem

Bottles from Sidon blown in hollow form - Divided into six fields with different patterns - Often decorated with amphorae, fruit goblets, birds, fruits, pomegranates, grapes and jugs, sometimes faces and the like. Masks

Jug from a Syrian grave - probably from Ennion's workshop, no signature - Nevertheless, strong stylistic similarities with other works in the workshop: - Hexagonal shape, stylized floral a. geometric pattern

Ennion beaker - medium 1st century AD, 6 cm high; Diameter (with rim) 9.7 cm - Consists of blue glass blown into three parts; two loop-shaped ribbon handles on the edges afterwards attached to the uppermost relief zone → two-handle bowl, vertical wall, tapering conically under wrap, flat bottom, blasted and then finely ground edge - relief decoration consists of two circumferential friezes with two sides each: - inscription above: "Ennion did it" / "May the buyer remember" (separation of the sides by small columns), "Turning letters" in Greek. - Tongue frieze underneath that is delimited by decorative strips - The conical part has a surface-filling diamond pattern - Base plate decorated with five concentric circles - Surface almost completely clean, few deposits (especially on the inside of the handle and vessel), two small red bullet holes, few bubbles

Four (according to other information six) specimens known, three of them from sites in Veneto:

1. Cavarzere , Adria (kept in the Museo Atestino, Este) 2. Aquileia (now in the Museum of Aquileia and Calvi) 3. Venice (from the art market, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) 4. Bagnolo near Brescia , Lombardy (Galleria Estense in Modena)

Harden's thesis that Ennion's workshop relocated from the eastern Mediterranean to Italy is made more plausible by the fact that other pieces signed with his name have been discovered in Italy. In addition, the shape of Terra Sigillata is reminiscent of the Dragendorff 29 type, the decor indicates Ennion's activity during the 2nd half of the 1st century

Ennion jug - a three-part blown, egg-shaped body (tapering towards the foot), yellowish-brown, the neck is cylindrical, wide and has a protruding, inwardly folded mouth rim. - Only the base of the stem has survived, supplemented. - Curved handle with two longitudinal ribs attached to the shoulder afterwards, protruding over the edge or vessel opening and attached to the edge at the top

Three friezes in relief on the body of the vessel, one on the neck - neck: tongue pattern delimited at the bottom by four strips - shoulder: palmette frieze, every second palmette is framed by tendrils, palmettes hang from the lowest strip and the like. are separated from the middle part by upper strips, a decorative band with an area-filling diamond pattern reminiscent of a honeycomb - Below the handle is tabula ansata (rectangular inscription panel with triangular or pelten-shaped attachments), Greek inscription ("Ennion made it") - The lower part of the vessel is Decorated with tongue pattern - signs of wear and tear on the bottom of the vessel, the base was supplemented according to the model of a jug from the Haaretz Museum, which was excavated in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's old town and probably deformed by the conflagration of 70 AD

Vascular spectrum

According to Harden, four different shapes are known from Ennion: cup, bowl, jug and amphoriskus. Typical of Ennion's style and way of working are vessels blown in metal or clay from Syrian-Palestinian production in the area around Sidon; - Sharply profiled shapes that imitate metal vessels. His style is referred to as Sidonian by Stern, and Stern assumes he never left his hometown. The vessels are characterized by the clarity and precision of the forms, which is typical of the late Hellenistic. and early Rom. Remember metalwork. Models were specially designed for glass processing, flat reliefs and outlines that persist even if the device for molding (Paraison) is expanded. He worked very quickly, as the glass was not allowed to cool down so that he could attach the handle. The pride in his ability is probably one of the reasons why he affixed his signature so clearly. Its vessels are not particularly large, but they are larger than most contemporary blown glasses. Most of the tableware that has been preserved is signed with his name (question: Is Ennion to be regarded as a pioneer in blown tableware?) It is questionable whether he initially worked as a silversmith (since, according to her, this would explain his willingness to experiment). Ennion built and used multi-part molds, which apparently had complicated locking mechanisms and e.g. Some of them were also used by other glassblowers (namely Neikais, Jason and Meges), but his pieces are also characterized by the fact that he was able to hide the seams between these connections particularly well by consciously integrating the slightly protruding parts into the shape. He first attached the handle to the upper edge of the vessel and pulled it down from there, folding it at the lower end and pressing it against the vessel wall there (other glassblowers proceeded in the opposite direction).

literature

• Otto Rossbach : Ennion . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume V, 2, Stuttgart 1905, Col. 2588.
• Donald B. Harden: Romano-Syrian Glasses with Mold-Blown Inscriptions . In: The Journal of Roman Studies 25, 1935 163-186.
• Mario Carrieri, Donald B. Harden (ed.): Glass of the Caesars , Corning 1988. (exhibition catalog)
• Yael Israel: Ancient Glass Art in the Israel Museum , Jerusalem 1998.
• Yüksel Erimtan Koleksiyonu: Ancient Glass of Asia Minor , Ankara 1992.
• Eva Marianne Stern: Roman Mold Blown Glass (in the Toledo Museum of Art), Rome 1995.
• Eva Marianne Stern, Birgit Schlick-Nolte: Early Glass of the Old World , Stuttgart 1994.

Web links

Commons : Ennion  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Glass in the British Museum
• Ennion