fragment

Object NameFragment of Engaged Pilaster

Made FromGlass

Date75 BCE-99 CE

Place MadeRome

Techniquecast, tooled, assembled

SizeOverall H: 8 cm, W: 8.7 cm, Th: 3.5 cm

Accession Number66.1.109

Curatorial Area(s)

Ancient

Exhibitions

Designs in Miniature: The Story of Mosaic Glass

On ViewThe Jerome and Lucille Strauss Study Gallery

Physical DescriptionSpirally twisted rods of translucent aquamarine glass with thick iridescent film, spirally twisted rods of colorless glass with wide opaque twists, heavily pitted and weathered, spirally twisted rod of blue (?) with narrow band of opaque white heavily weathered, glass tesserae of deep blue and opaque white, tesserae of Egyptian Blue, crumbling and badly weathered, tesserae of yellow faience with red centers all affixed to or imbedded in a white plaster backing over a greyish-white concrete with medium-sized brick aggregate; cast and tooled elements in architectural assemblage. Fragment preserves an elaborate three-sided engaged pilaster or column probably from a wall interior, a long narrow rectangular surface perpendicular to the wall is elaborated with a zigzag pattern, the triangles on the left made entirely of yellow faience tesserae with deep red interiors and opposed by triangles made up of opaque white tesserae, each side is bordered by two rods, the first spirally twisted rod of aquamarine then a colorless rod with an opaque yellow spiral; the second pilaster face to the right is filled with Egyptian blue tesserae and is bordered by a blue rod with an opaque white spiral twist, the face on the left is filled with deep blue glass tesserae but does not preserve the bordering rod.
Provenance

Source Sergio Sangiorgi (Italian) - 1966

Former Collection Giorgio Sangiorgi (Italian, 1886-1965)