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501. Fragment of a Mosaic Inlay with Geometrical Motif

Accession Number 76.AF.70.11
Dimensions L. 3.5, W. 2.0, Th. 0.3 cm (matrix: 0.2 cm; colored elements: 0.1 cm); Wt. 3.21 g
Date First century BCE–first century CE
Production Area Egypt or Italy
Material Opaque white and turquoise and translucent purple glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Fusion
View in Collection

Condition

Fragment, broken all around.

Description

White and turquoise stripes of various widths curving on a dark, translucent purple background. The back of the inlay was scored, while still hot, with parallel and crosshatched grooves that form a loose network of lozenges, probably for better adhesion of the tile to the object in which it was set.

Comments and Comparanda

For the historical and technological evolution of glass inlays in Pharaonic Egypt and the Roman Empire, see comments on cats. 449 and 460.

Provenance

By 1976, Bruce McNall, donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1976

Bibliography

Unpublished

Exhibitions

None