Hellenistic Greek Cast Glass Pomegranate
Hicham Aboutaam: The next piece in our series looking at some of Phoenix Ancient Art’s pieces and the stories behind them.
Pomegranates, a fruit that’s still perhaps a novelty to many of us today, were significant in Greek and Roman mythology.
Persephone, daughter of the goddess of the harvest, was abducted by Hades, who fed her pomegranate seeds, the food of the underworld. Since then, the fruit is associated with Persephone’s power as the queen of the Underworld; they are a symbol of life in death, of fruitfulness and fertility bursting forth from seeds under the ground.
While we have other examples of glass vessels in the shape of fruit, many of them votive offerings from tombs, this pomegranate is special. In the form of a ripening fruit, with gently variegated color and a perfectly fashioned corolla, its excellent condition marks this piece as unique.
