448. Fragment of an Inlay in the Form of an Eye

Condition

The condition is good, with some signs of wear such as small nicks and scratches; some minor traces of discoloration visible on the blue areas.

Description

Cast inlay in the form of a right human eye. The eye is outlined in blue glass and has an opaque white sclera, and the pupil is black and lentoid in cross section.

Comments and Comparanda

On Pharaonic Egyptian glass inlays in general, see comments on cat. 442. Inlaid eyes were often used in statues and statuettes, mummies, mummy masks, and coffins. It is not only human mummies that had inlaid eyes, but those of animals as well, when they were considered personifications of deities or otherwise connected to deities, like the sacred bull Apis (Stern and Schlick-Nolte 1994, pp. 174–175, no. 27; Lucas and Harris 1962, pp. 124–127). For direct comparanda, see Lucas and Harris 1962, pp. 98–127; Spaer 2001, p. 239; Bianchi et al. 2002, nos. EG-7–8; Antonaras 2012, p. 298, no. 504; Brooklyn Museum, 37.1951E (1539–1530 BCE).

Provenance

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

von Saldern et al. 1974, p. 30, no. 35.

Exhibitions

Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Malibu, 2009–2010)

The Color of Life (Malibu, 2008)

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