Mosaic glass inlay

Unknown

late 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Opaque white ground; decoration in opaque white, yellow, and blue, partly translucent purple and blue green, and colorless glass appearing blue. Thin, rectangular plaque, cut from a mosaic composite bar, with flat upper and lower faces, and vertical straight sides, with rounded corners; design extends uniformly through the thickness of the plaque. Front half of crocodile, facing left; front leg in blue; underside of body and jaw in small blue green canes outlined with colorless glass, and bottom of jaw outlined in purple; teeth in white; upper body in purple with yellow scales. Broken across one end, with rear half of crocodile missing, and some chips along top edge; all surfaces ground and polished; pitting of surface bubbles.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 1st century BCE–1st century CE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Roman, probably Egyptian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Fletcher Fund, 1942