Mosaic Bars

Place of OriginEgypt

Date3rd to 1st century BCE

DimensionsH: 11/16 in. (1.8 cm); Max L: 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm); W: 3/8 in. (0.9 cm)

MediumGlass; assembled from lengths of cane and cast; polished on the ends; side edges left slightly rough.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.314

Not on View

DescriptionThese two small mosaic glass bars show stylized female faces, each with elaborate hairstyles and headdresses. The details—such as curled hair, a crown of ivy, and gemstone-patterned diadems—are made from layered and colored glass canes. The ends are polished, while the sides remain slightly rough.

Published ReferencesRiefstahl, Rudolph M., "Ancient and Near Eastern Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News 4, no. 2, 1961, p. 32.

Riefstahl, Rudolph M., "The Complexities of Ancient Glass,"Apollo 86, 1967, pp.432-433, fig. 14.

Labino, Dominick, Visual Art in Glass, Dubuque, IA, 1968, pp. 16-17, fig. 5.

Gunther, Charles F., "How Glass is Made," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News 15, no. 1, 1972, p. 16.

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. 627, p. 362.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Mummies: From Egypt to Toledo, February 3- May 6, 2018.