Glass bowl

Roman

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 169

Colorless.
Knocked-off vertical rim with slight bulge below; hemispherical body; slightly flattened bottom.
Wheel-cut decoration in two registers on side, with lower extending across bottom: upper register comprises eight round shallow facets, each surrounded by a circular groove, interspersed with stylized columns made up of a vertical thin groove and oval facets at top and bottom; lower register comprises six round shallow facets interspersed with hanging swags topped by oval facets and with vertical grooves below, forming a star-like pattern around a round shallow facet surrounded by a circular groove on bottom.
Intact; few bubbles but blowing striations; dulling, slight pitting on bottom, iridescence, and creamy brown weathering.

The linear and facet-cut decoration on this glass bowl resembles the patterns found on Roman silver plate, notably on some bowls in the Chaourse Treasure, buried for safekeeping during the devastating raids into Gaul by the Alemanni and the Franks in the years after A.D. 250.

Glass bowl, Glass, Roman

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.