493. Fragment of a Mosaic Inlay with Geometrical Motif

Condition

Square tile.

Description

A kind of checkerboard motif covers the plaque, on which are preserved 27 columns with 23 rows. The background contains square gray tesserae (1.5 × 1.5 cm) and slightly smaller light gray (approx. 1.2 × 1.2 cm) ones, which appear every few (two to six) rows. Aligned with the light gray tesserae are fifteen mosaic tesserae present in six rows; these are four times larger (3.4 × 3.4 cm) than the gray ones, and they form a loose network of lozenges. In each mosaic tessera, a freely designed, four-petaled rosette is set in a red square background, which is set diagonally in a white square. The petals are formed by white and black (translucent purple?) curved lines. The mosaic tesserae are aligned with lighter gray tesserae every few rows of darker gray tesserae, which form the main background.

Comments and Comparanda

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

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, pp. 121, 126, no. 336k.

Exhibitions

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