Rim Fragment from a Cameo Glass Plate

Place of OriginItaly, likely Rome or Bay of Naples

Dateabout 15 BCE - 25 CE (Roman, Augustan)

DimensionsL (of two joined fragments): 7 in. (17.8 cm); Rim W: 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)

MediumCameo glass.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1590

Not on View

DescriptionOpaque white decoration on translucent blue glass. Broad, flat rim fragment from a large, shallow dish featuring acanthus rosettes, palmette sprays, curling tendrils, and birds perched on branches or rocks. This fragment belongs to the same vessel as Acc. Nos. 1923.1601, 1923.1606, and 1923.1607, which together provide a more complete understanding of the dish’s original design.

Label TextOpaque white decoration on translucent blue glass. Broad, flat rim fragment from a large, shallow dish featuring acanthus rosettes, palmette sprays, curling tendrils, and birds perched on branches or rocks. This fragment belongs to the same vessel as Acc. Nos. 1923.1601, 1923.1606, and 1923.1607, which together provide a more complete understanding of the dish’s original design. Acquired by Edward Drummond Libbey in 1919 from the family of Thomas Hulse Curtis. The Curtis collection was largely acquired in the 1890s from Charles Caryl Coleman, an American artist who resided first in Rome and later on the island of Capri. This collection history strongly suggests a findspot in or around Rome or the Bay of Naples.Published ReferencesSturgis, Russell, “The Coleman Collection of Antique Glass,” The Century Magazine, vol. 48, 1894, p. 556, fig. 10 [without since-attached adjoining fragment to the right].

Roberts, Paul, William Gudenrath, Veronica Tatton-Brown, and David Whitehouse, Roman Cameo Glass in the British Museum, London, British Museum Press, 2010, pp. 47, 57, 58.