Cameo Glass Plaque Fragment with Theatrical Mask

Place of OriginLikely Rome

Date1st century CE

DimensionsL: 1 1/4 in. (3.8 cm); W: 1 1/2 in. (3.2 cm)

MediumCameo glass.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1507

Not on View

DescriptionThis small fragment comes from the bottom edge of a flat cameo glass plaque, made of opaque white decoration carved in relief over translucent cobalt blue glass. The scene features a fantastical theater mask with dramatic, exaggerated features: large open eyes, arched brows, a broad flaring nose, and a wide open mouth from which two leaves emerge in a floral spray. The leonine hair is sculpted with detail and framed by a decorative fillet across the brow, with rosettes at the temples. Ribbons trail outward from either side of the mask.

Label TextThis cameo glass fragment once formed part of a Roman plaque, carved in opaque white over cobalt blue glass. It depicts a dramatic mask with fantastical features: bulging eyes, a flaring nose, and an open mouth from which two leaves burst. Such masks likely referenced the theatrical traditions of Dionysian cult or Roman performance. The mask’s hair is wild and ringed with decorative rosettes and fillets, while ribbon motifs stream outward from the temples. Roman cameo glass was a luxury art form that used layered glass and precision carving to produce vivid imagery, often in elite household contexts.