Glass cameo fragment of a large platter or tabletop

Glass cameo fragment of a large platter or tabletop

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent deep purple with opaque white overlay. Everted, rounded rim, with slightly downturned outer lip; shallow convex side; flat bottom with slightly upturned and rounded outer edge. On interior, two raised lines as molding around side, retaining in places traces of white overlay; on exterior, recessed horizontal lines below rim and at edge of side and bottom. Decoration carved in white overlay, comprising a crab, a squid, and two bivalve molluscs, with incised details, such as the naturalistic patterning of the shells and the tenticles of the squid. Rim fragment, broken into a dozen pieces and repaired; many pinprick bubbles; dulling, deep pitting, brilliant iridescence, and patches of brown enamel-like weathering Over a background of deep purple (representing Homer's "wine-dark sea"), a layer of opaque white glass have been added and then carved to represent various sea creatures. The fragment is said to have been found on the island of Capri (in the Bay of Naples, Italy), near the imperial villa where the Emperor Tiberius lived in seclusion between A.D. 27 and 37.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Glass cameo fragment of a large platter or tabletopGlass cameo fragment of a large platter or tabletopGlass cameo fragment of a large platter or tabletopGlass cameo fragment of a large platter or tabletopGlass cameo fragment of a large platter or tabletop

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.