Fragment of Mosaic Inlay

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Fragment of Mosaic Inlay

Place of OriginEgypt or Italy

DateThird to first century BCE

DimensionsH: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm); W: 7/8 in. (2.1 cm); Thickness: 1/4 in. (0.6 cm)

Mediumglass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.268

Not on View

DescriptionPart of a standing figure. Detail of the garment with very elaborate textile pattern. Left shoulder of a figure dressed in an elaborate costume, part of an inlay, assembled from many strips and sections of monochrome and mosaic canes. At the upper right, four horizontal registers made up of polychrome mosaic strips, each outlined in opaque white: the uppermost register contains a checkerboard pattern in an opaque turquoise-blue ground; the lower three registers contain central rows of flowers, also in an opaque turquoise-blue ground. Below, five vertical registers composed of polychrome mosaic strips, each also outlined in opaque white. On the left, the rounded sleeve of the garment is composed of five vertical registers from the mosaic strip described above; it is bordered at the bottom by a single opaque red strip with a central row of opaque white and opaque dark blue lotuses. Smooth, convex upperside; flat on the underside. Fragment of fused mosaic inlay; assembled from sections of cane and cast in an open, one-piece mold, polished on the upperside, cut along the edges, applied grayish backing, left rough on its underside, with tooling marks.

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, New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1989, cat. no. 621, p. 360.