Fragment of a shallow bowl

Place of OriginRome

Date19th or 20th century

DimensionsH: 1 9/16 in. (4 cm); W: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm); Diam: 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)

MediumColorless glass; blown, gold leaf, enameling

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1967.11

Not on View

DescriptionGold glass plaque with horse and man holding palm branch; thick upper layer (0.24 cm) and medium thin lower layer (0.16 cm). Transparent, decolorized glass with grayish yellow green tint (5 GY 7/2). Two layers of glass thermo-fused. Edges of both layers chipped to shape before fusing. Gold leaf applied to lower layer of glass. Paint added over gold leaf before top layer of glass was put in place. Medallion slightly concave. The lower layer of glass is smaller in diameter than the upper layer. A square leaf of gold foil cut out, leaving a square frame around a charioteer in driving costume consisting of a torque around the neck, a long-sleeved shirt beneath a red vest, a thick belt, and thigh pieces tapering down to attachment to greaves which are horizontally striated. Soft shoes hug the contours of his feet. He stands en face in front of a horse in profile, holding the horses's bridle in his right hand and a palm branch in his left hand. His weight is on his right leg. A headpiece which probably consists of a palm frond can be seen between the ears of the horse. Portions of the rider's costume and the tack and leg bands of the horse are painted red. Letters inside the left, top, and right borders read: VINCENTI NIKA. The name of the horse: IMBICTUS, is roughly scratched into the lower border.

Published References"Recent Important Acquisitions," Journal of Glass Studies, vol. XI, 1969, p. 111, repr. no. 13.

Toledo Museum of Art, Art in Glass, A Guide to the Glass Collections, Toledo, 1969, repr. p. 27.

Noll, Rudolf, "An Instance of Motif and Identity in Two Gold Glasses," Journal of Glass Studies, vol. XV, 1973, p. 31-34, repr. fig. 1.

"Imperial Realm," Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 35, no. 2, Autumn 1977, p. 19, repr.

Grose, David, "Ancient Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 20, no. 3, 1978, p. 86, repr. fig. 27.

Weitzmann, Kurt, ed., Age of Spirituality : Late Anitque and Early Christian Art, 3rd-7th Century, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979, repr. p. 104, no. 95 (cat. entry by Stephen R. Zwirn).

Goldman, Bernard M., "The Later Pre-Islamic Riding Costume," Iranica Antiqua, vol. 28, 1993, p. 215, n. 50, pl. II-1, p. 241.

Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, repr. (col.) fig. 14.1, p. 42.

Dunbabin, Katherine M.D., Theater and Spectacle in the Art of the Roman Empire, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 2016, p. 239, repr. (col.) fig. 8.2.

Bell, Sinclair W., “The Costume of the Roman Charioteer: New Insights from a Statue Fragment in Hadrumentum (Sousse) and Related Sources,” Boreas. Münstersche Beiträge zur Archäologie, vol. 41/42, 2018/2019, p. 77, pl. 33,3.

Exhibition HistoryNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Age of Spirituality, 1977-78, no. 95.