Glass pendant ornament in the form of a pair of birds

Glass pendant ornament in the form of a pair of birds

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Uncertain color, possibly pale greyish blue; opaque white trails. Double bead with central transverse hole, pierced through bodies and bridge from right to left, shaped as two birds, each tooled into S-shaped head and drawn out into a flattened broad tail, joined by a cylindrical bridge on side of body. Broad trail wound round each bird from head to tail. Tail of one bird missing, with weathered break; enamel-like weathering covering most of surfaces.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Glass pendant ornament in the form of a pair of birdsGlass pendant ornament in the form of a pair of birdsGlass pendant ornament in the form of a pair of birdsGlass pendant ornament in the form of a pair of birdsGlass pendant ornament in the form of a pair of birds

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.