Bowl
Bowl
Place of OriginGraeco-Roman, probably Italy
DateLate 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
DimensionsH: 4.3 cm (1 3/4 in.); Rim Diam: 10.0 cm (4 in.); Base Diam: 3.9 cm (1 1/2 in.); Thickness: 0.3 cm (3/32 in.)
MediumGlass canes; mosaic glass technique, cast, tooled; applied coiled base, interior rotary polished
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1923.1393
Not on View
DescriptionThis carinated bowl was assembled from sections of cane and cast, with the foot tooled on. It has an outsplayed rim with a flat edge and a carinated side with two convex curves. The upper side of the bottom is concave and the underside is convex. The outsplayed base ring has a rounded edge. A composite mosaic pattern is formed from polygonal sections of a single cane in a blue ground with opaque white rods surrounding an opaque white circle around a central opaque red rod. The base ring is streaked with blue, opaque white, and opaque red. The interior is rotary polished.
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.Published ReferencesGrose, 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, Hudson Hills Press in Association with the Toledo Museum of Art, New York, 1989, cat. no. 510, p. 321, repr. (col.) p. 225, drawing, p. 426.
Arts, P.L.W., "A Collection of Ancient Glass 500 BC - 500 AD," ANTIEK Lochem, 2000, p. 90.
Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, repr. (col.) fig. 5.1, 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 early 1st century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
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