Glass cameo cup fragment with incuse decoration
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Translucent deep cobalt blue with overlays in opaque white, opaque blue green, and translucent cobalt blue. Vertical, tapering rim with everted horizontal projection, probably part of a handle attachment; thick-walled convex curving side. On interior, horizontal groove below rim; on exterior, incuse decoration depicting a male standing figure at left, facing right with his proper left arm bent up across his chest; he wears an Egyptian-style kilt (shendyt) and possibly a cap; to right, a indeterminate object, perhaps a decorated shield, is shown at an oblique angle. Rim fragment with worn and weathered edges, broken at sides and bottom; dulling, pitting, and faint iridescence. This small fragment with indistinct figural design is of considerable interest and importance because it belongs to a very small group of ancient cameo glass objects that were made with multiple layers of different colored glass. In this case, on the dark blue body of the cup are layers in white, green, white, and lighter blue. In addition, the decoration, instead of being in relief, has been formed by cutting away the different layers like an intaglio.
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.