453. Fragment of a Mosaic Inlay with Floral Motif

Condition

Fragment; the two sides of the band preserve the original edges; the upper and lower ends are broken. Small areas with iridescence and pitting. The back side is severely pitted and covered with incrustation. One fully preserved motif and the upper part of a second one are visible on the extant fragment.

Description

Plaque with vertical, floral pattern. On the front side, a multicolored floral decoration is encased in yellow glass. The lower part of the motif comprises a truncated conical pot, formed of three red and two black horizontal bands. From the pot stem rise three elongated turquoise leaves outlined in black. Between the leaves are two tall (seemingly black, probably dark red) stems, each topped by a red globular feature, probably a flower, that extends higher than the leaves. One of these flowers is square and the other is roughly circular.

The back side of the plaque is covered with translucent purple glass that fits into a yellow outline along the long sides of the plaque.

Comments and Comparanda

For the historical and technological evolution of glass inlays in Pharaonic Egypt and the Roman Empire, see comments on cat. 449.

The band was made in the following way: The cane with the motif on it was sliced and each slice was placed “above” the previous, forming a band. This strap of adjoining slices was reheated and a thin (0.1–0.2 cm) layer of translucent purple glass was applied to it, bonding the slices together into a solid mass. The front side, after assembly into bands of the desired length, was polished. The seam between the two slices that were fused together to form the band is visible just below the bottom of the pot. For close parallels, see Grose 1989, pp. 346, 364, no. 642; Maeda 2001, p. 85, no. 117.

Provenance

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

von Saldern et al. 1974, p. 126, no. 336a, plate 336a.

Exhibitions

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