Condition
Bronze parts are heavily corroded. Surface of the glass is clear and unweathered in both examples. 2003.295.2 is missing one part of the double loop. Glass medallion of 2003.295.2 is cracked.
Description
Bronze medallion with gold-glass inset. Each medallion is made of a round bronze sheet from which emerge, on the two opposite sides, one and two, respectively, bands/strips, which have been folded to create loops. A fine band has been soldered on the periphery of the round sheet, forming a ring into which the gold-glass has been placed.
Remains of iron wire can be seen in the double loop of each medallion.
Only one band of the double link of the second medallion (2003.295.2) is preserved, and the area from which the second band broke away is visible.
It is evident that the single link was fitted into the space in the middle of the double link, while an iron wire passed through the three links, which ensured the cohesion of the “chain.”
The two gold-glass medallions are all around, following the shape of the bronze band in which they are inset. A cut gold foil was placed under the glass, depicting a bird, in profile to the right, perched on a horizontal bar, apparently a branch. The birds have round head, large eye, and curved beak; they are similar but not identical. The birds are formed by cutting and scratching the gold foil to the desired shape. The foil is secured between two layers of clear-colored glass, which were set in a bronze circular ring. The grozed outline of the glass medallion was covered with a substance, which is still quite clearly visible on one of them.
Comments and Comparanda
On gold-band and gold-glass objects, see cat. 145. No exact parallels have been located. For a bronze case for a wax sealing decorated with gold-glass decoration from Thessaloniki, Greece, see Adam-Veleni, Polyxeni, and Despoina Ignatiadou, eds. 2010. Gyalinos kosmos / Glass Cosmos. Thessaloniki: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki., p. 257, no. 167, dated to the second half of the first century CE. For a bronze ring in the British Museum with a chi-rho–monogrammed gold foil under a layer of glass dated to the fourth century CE, see Howells, Daniel Thomas. 2015. A Catalogue of the Late Antique Gold Glass in the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum., p. 12, plate 3, p. 20. For gold-glass in general, see Morey, Charles Rufus. 1959. The Gold-Glass Collection of the Vatican Library. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.; von Saldern, Axel. 2004. Antikes Glas. Handbuch der Archäologe 7. Munich: Beck., pp. 461–474; Howells, Daniel Thomas. 2015. A Catalogue of the Late Antique Gold Glass in the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum., pp. 3–16. On the motif of birds, see Scarborough, John, and Anthony Cutler. 1991. “Birds.” In The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. Alexander P. Kazhdan, 289–290. Oxford: Oxford University Press., pp. 289–290.
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
Saldern von, Axel, Birgit Nolte, Peter La Baume, and Thea Elisabeth Haevernick. 1974. Gläser der Antike. Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer. Mainz: von Zabern., p. 152, no. 398.
Wight, Karol. 2011. Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum., pp. 102, 108, fig. 75.
Exhibitions
Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)