Glass mosaic handle fragment

Unknown

Early 1st century CE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Handle in translucent purple and opaque white; body in translucent pale purple. Thick, straight strap handle tooled into three rounded ribs, with slight projection at bottom below horizontal tooled indent, attached to side of body. Mosaic pattern of irregular stripes in purple and white. Polished interior of handle; pitting of surface bubbles on interior; dulling, faint iridescent weathering, and soil encrustation on sides and exterior of handle and on interior of body. The handle belongs to a type of marbled blown glass ewer (olpa), found principally in northern Italy.

Artist

Unknown

Date

Early 1st century CE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Roman, probably northern Italian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891