Bowl
Bowl
Place of OriginEastern Mediterranean
Date1st century BCE
DimensionsH: 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm); Rim Diam: 3 7/16 in. (8.8 cm); Base Diam: 2 3/16 in. (5.6 cm)
MediumAssembled from lengths of cane and cast; applied rim; rotary-polished on both surfaces; applied base ring.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.1473
Not on View
DescriptionThis small bowl was formed from lengths of cane laid in parallel rows and fused together. The vessel has an outsplayed rim with an uneven rounded edge, a straight side slanting downward, and a slightly convex bottom with a concave center. A tall, thick, slightly uneven base ring provides support.
The decoration is a striking striped mosaic pattern: eight lengths of cane in golden-brown glass streaked with opaque white, and two lengths in blue glass with opaque white streaks. These colored canes are positioned so that the blue stripes appear mostly at the bottom and rise unevenly up the sides. An eleventh golden-brown cane forms the rim, topped by a thin thread of streaked yellow-greenish glass as a finishing edge. The base ring is opaque yellow streaked with colorless and green, with small areas that repeat the golden-brown and white cane design used on the body.
Published ReferencesGrose, David F., "Innovation and Change in Ancient Technologies: The Anomalous Case of the Roman Glass Industry," in High-Technology Ceramics, Westerville, OH, 1986, p. 71, pl. II (col.).
Grose, David F., Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50, New York, Hudson Hills Press in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1989, Cat. No. 224, pp. 207-208, Repr. (col.) p. 184.
Puma, Richard Daniel de, Art In Roman Life: Villa to Grave, Rome, L'erma di Bretschneider, 2009, p. 95, no. 103.
Second to mid-1st century BCE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
Second to mid-1st century BCE
Early to mid-1st century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
2nd to mid-1st century BCE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
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