Images(2)

inlay

Object NameHalf of Mosaic Plaque with Satyr

Made FromGlass

Date99 BCE-25 CE

Place MadeRoman Empire; possibly Egypt, Alexandria; possibly Rome

TechniqueMosaic glass or millefiori

SizeOverall H: 2.7 cm, W: 1.3 cm, Th (max): 0.4 cm

Accession Number59.1.95

Curatorial Area(s)

Ancient

Exhibitions

Reflecting Antiquity: Modern Glass Inspired by Ancient Rome

Glass from the Ancient World

Best of 50

Designs in Miniature: The Story of Mosaic Glass

On ViewAncient Gallery

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

Glassmakers used halves of faces to form complete, symmetrical faces by combining two slices from the same cane, one of which was simply reversed. This inlay fragment shows one such half.

Physical DescriptionHalf of Mosaic Plaque with Satyr. Canes of opaque brick-red, opaque yellow, opaque white, opaque yellow-green and opaque aquamarine in a translucent deep blue glass matrix, bubbly pitted with one surface reground recently; mosaic glass or millefiori technique. Half the face of a satyr or papasilenos with a red face, features delineated with translucent deep blue; yellow and aquamarine iris in an opaque white eye lined with blue and highlighted with an alternating white and blue banded eyebrow, above a filet of grape leaves, the vine in yellow, two leaves of aquamarine cased in yellow on forehead with three yellow-green leaves cased in red above his head, a rosette of yellow with blue dots probably represents grapes on the forehead; beard and mustache delineated with fine opaque white lines.
Provenance

Source Ray Winfield Smith (American, 1897-1982) - 1959-07-27