Images(2)

fragment

Object NameBowl Fragment

Made FromGlass

Date99 BCE-99 CE

Place MadeRoman Empire

Techniquecast, lathe-cut, polished, wheel-cut

SizeOverall H: 9.3 cm, L: 11.8 cm; Reconstructed Rim Diam: 23 cm

Accession Number66.1.227

Curatorial Area(s)

Ancient

Exhibitions

Animals in Glass

On ViewThe Jerome and Lucille Strauss Study Gallery

Physical DescriptionTranslucent emerald-green glass, bubbly with some small stone, dull surface with slight iridescence on underside of bowl; cast, lathe-cut and polished, subsequently wheel-cut with intaglio decoration. Fragment preserves handle and vessel wall of a shallow convex profile bowl which may have stood on a short base. The handle roughly rectangular in cross section tapers from an elaborate scroll element reminiscent of metal prototypes and bends down gently into the body forming a quarter round arc and swelling slightly before meeting the vessel wall. This area is highlighted on the exterior by two horizontal relief-cut bands where handle meets body. The flat upper surface of the handle is cut with an intaglio decoration of a garland surmounted by a tri-lobed "tulip". The rim is emphasized by a lathe-cut groove, a second is cut slightly deeper just inside the lip, below this, with a wide intaglio band, the interior is divided into a wall register and a circular base medallion. Not enough of the medallion is preserved to be identified, but the scene would appear to be winged animals or perhaps animals and birds. On the dividing line sit a hen facing a rooster, a sprig of two flowers and a leaf are between them, a second sprig of three flowers is above the back of the rooster. Both birds appear to have their legs tied. The hen holds the antennae of a bee in her back, to the left of the hen is a small butterfly. The antennae of a third insect is preserved at the right edge of the fragment while below the rooster's tail feathers are four circular dots.
Provenance

Source Sergio Sangiorgi (Italian) - 1966

Former Collection Giorgio Sangiorgi (Italian, 1886-1965)