Cameo Glass Vessel Fragment with Dionysiac Scene

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Cameo Glass Vessel Fragment with Dionysiac Scene

Place of OriginItaly, likely Rome or Bay of Naples

Dateabout 15 BCE - 25 CE (Roman, Augustan)

DimensionsL: 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); W: 2 in. (5.1 cm)

MediumCameo glass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1536

Not on View

DescriptionThis rim fragment from a cameo glass vessel is made of opaque white layered over deep cobalt blue. The relief depicts a bearded satyr with a wreath, shown in a hunched posture with his head turned downward. He extends his bent right arm and holds a thyrsus in his left hand. A canopy of drooping tree branches fills the space above. The arrangement suggests the presence of a now-missing figure—possibly Dionysos—beneath the canopy. The cameo technique involved layering colored glasses and carving back the surface to reveal contrasting designs. This fragment likely belonged to a larger composition featuring Dionysiac imagery.

Label TextThis cameo glass rim fragment, likely made in Rome during the 1st century CE, shows a satyr beneath a heavy tree canopy. Finely cut in white glass over cobalt blue, the satyr stands in a hunched pose, holding a thyrsus—a staff associated with the god Dionysos. Above him, the branches of a tree droop protectively, suggesting a sacred or ritual setting. This small fragment would have once formed part of a larger vessel decorated with mythological scenes. The cameo technique involved fusing layers of colored glass and then cutting away the surface to reveal contrasting designs. 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.