Ribbed Bowl
Ribbed Bowl
Artist
Roman Empire
(Ancient Roman, 27 BCE-395 CE)
Place of OriginProbably Italy
Dateabout 50 BCE - 50 CE
Dimensions2 1/4 × 4 5/8 × 3/16 in. (5.7 × 11.7 × 0.5 cm)
Mediummosaic glass
ClassificationGlass
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1970.428
Not on View
DescriptionA deep, hemispherical bowl executed in mosaic glass with a marbled pattern. The vessel features a slightly outplayed rim with a flat edge, a flaring shoulder, and convex curving sides leading to a slightly convex bottom. The body is decorated with pronounced, evenly spaced vertical ribs in high relief that extend from the shoulder to the center of the bottom. The interior is rotary-polished and features two narrow horizontal grooves cut just below the rim. The exterior rim and ribs appear fire-polished. The glass is composed of sections of cane sagged together to form a marbled pattern, described variously as a pale purple ground with opaque white threads, or a mix of grey, violet, rose, and white.
Label TextAt first glance, this sturdy bowl seems to have been carved out of a solid block of amethyst or banded agate. Instead, its stone-like appearance was achieved with the ancient mosaic glass technique, similar to how paperweights are made today. Rods and strips of various colored glass are heated together until they fuse into a bar, then pulled out like taffy to form a rod with an internal design such as a spiral or a rosette (see the Patella bowl in this case). The rod is cut into short lengths called canes, which are assembled and slowly heated in a mold to create a vessel with distinctive and colorful patterns.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, fig. 8, p. 72, repr.
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. 292, pp. 279-280, repr. (col.) p. 217, ill. p. 416.
Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, repr. (col.) p.26, p. 27.
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
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 mid-1st century CE
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