Glass mosaic ornament in the form of a shell

Glass mosaic ornament in the form of a shell

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent cobalt blue, appearing black, with overlays in opaque white and yellow. Solid block with flat underside in the shape of a bivalve mollusc with radiating ribs. Decoration of nine marvered trails applied across shell in alternating yellow and white. Intact, but chipped around edges; dulling, pitting of surface bubbles, and faint iridescence. This unusual object may have served as part of a wall inlay.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Glass mosaic ornament in the form of a shellGlass mosaic ornament in the form of a shellGlass mosaic ornament in the form of a shellGlass mosaic ornament in the form of a shellGlass mosaic ornament in the form of a shell

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.