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Catalogue

122. Mosaic Bowl

Accession Number 2003.247
Dimensions H. 3.2, Diam. rim 10.0, Diam. base 4.4, Th. 0.2 cm; Wt. 53.00 g
Date Late first century BCE–early first century CE
Production Area Italy or Egypt
Material Translucent brownish and opaque white glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Made from a polychrome disk-shaped blank assembled from fused-together sections of round mosaic canes; slumped over a convex former mold; applied base; rotary polished
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Condition

A number of repaired breaks visible, and there are some nicks and scratches. Some discoloration and weathering on the exterior surface, in addition to pitting, which has produced the rough appearance of the surface.

Description

The bowl has a slightly flaring lip; conical, cyma recta body; and flat bottom. It stands on a tall, circular base-ring formed by an applied coil of glass.

The vessel is made of discoid mosaic tesserae of a single type, composed of fine white rods surrounded by brownish translucent glass. Some of the tesserae on the exterior have been fused almost vertically, probably as a result of movement during action of the slumping technique, so that the white rods appear elongated, as short, wavy white threads in the dark-colored body of the vessel. In the interior they mostly appear in cross section as white spots.

Comments and Comparanda

This bowl belongs to the Roman Cast Composite Mosaic Vessels group, and in particular to the Non-Carinated Bowls (, pp. 258–261), which are one of the largest groups of mosaic vessels, with deep and shallow bowls being among the most widely appearing forms; others include plates and beakers. For the production technique, see and comments on cat. 86. Broad, shallow bowls similar in shape are in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art (, nos. 539–540).

Provenance

Friedrich Ludwig von Gans, German, 1833–1920 (Frankfurt, Germany); Kurt Walter Bachstitz Gallery, founded 1920, dissolved 1951; 1929, Baurat Schiller [sold, Sammlung Baurat Schiller, Rudolph Lepke’s Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Berlin, March 19, 1929, lot 587]; Pierre Mavrogordato, Greek, 1870–1948 (Berlin, Germany); by 1974–1988, Erwin Oppenländer, 1901–1988 (Waiblingen, Germany), by inheritance to his son, Gert Oppenländer, 1988; 1988–2003, Gert Oppenländer (Waiblingen, Germany), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003

Bibliography

, p. 118, no. 313; p. 115, plate no. 313.

Exhibitions

Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)