Cameo Glass Vessel Fragment with Vines

Place of OriginLikely Rome

Date1st century CE

DimensionsL: 2 1/2 in. (6.2 cm); W: 1 3/8 in. (3.3 cm)

MediumCameo glass.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1599

Not on View

DescriptionThis curved fragment (6.2 × 3.3 cm) from a Roman cameo glass vessel preserves botanical decoration in white over translucent cobalt blue. The design includes knotted fillets, grape leaves, acanthus foliage, and grape or berry clusters, rendered in high undercut relief. The relief is strongly undercut—possibly to 0.4 cm—but coarsely executed. Lines forming the leaves and knots are sharply incised, almost like being drawn in a single stroke, and lack plasticity. One leaf shows blue rising nearly to the surface, likely due to uneven white glass distribution. The background was irregularly cut, with random polishing marks and no evident surface smoothing. The object has been weathered and iridesced overall.

Label TextThis fragment of a Roman cameo glass vessel preserves part of a grapevine motif in white glass over a cobalt blue background. Knotted fillets and deeply undercut leaves wrap around the curved surface, alongside grape clusters and acanthus motifs. The fragment's technique is bold and graphic, with sharply incised outlines. Similar decorative styles appear on cameo amphorae from Pompeii and on a vessel in the British Museum.Comparative Referencescf. Froehner, Wilhelm, Collection Julien Gréau: Verrerie antique, émaillerie et poterie appartenant à M. John Pierpont Morgan, Paris, 1903, vol. 1, no. 573, p. 83, pl. 59.8.