Glass cup in the form of the head of a Black African
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Translucent blue green. Lopsided, everted, thick, knocked-off rim; narrow, cylindrical neck; body modeled in the shape of a head in the round; base ring with rounded lower edge; flat bottom. Two mold seams run from rim down sides of head to base ring, with a separate disk-shaped base section. On body, a head wearing an ivy wreath and globular pendant earrings; one half of mold comprises the back of the head and part of the proper left ear, with the hair arranged in six horizontal rows of short vertical locks in relief, and wreath tied in a knot at back with hanging finials; the other half of the mold shows the face and all of his proper right ear, with a regular, curving fringe to his hair, high arched eyebrows, large almond-shaped eyes, raised cheeks, broad flat nose, large open mouth with upper teeth showing and full lips, and a small but prominent chin; on bottom, a single raised circle around a central raised dot. Intact; a few pinprick and larger bubbles; slight dulling and faint iridescence, with small patches of weathering. Other examples of glass flasks in the form of the head of a Black African are signed—one group in Latin, the other in Greek.
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.