Glass beaker or lamp

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent pale blue green, with deep turquoise green blobs. Unworked, knocked-off rim, with bulging collar beneath; somewhat misshapen and uneven sides to body, tapering downwards; pushed-in bottom. Four blobs applied irregularly to exterior of lower body. Intact, except for minor chip in rim; pinprick bubbles; slight dulling, pitting, and iridescent weathering on exterior, patches of creamy brown weathering on interior. Vessels with decorated with colored blobs were very popular in late Roman times; examples have been found both in the East and along the Rhine frontier in Germany.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art