Important Roman Mosaic Glass Patella

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 21, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-02-21 10:00:00 2019-02-21 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-3858
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• Lot Description
  Roman, late Republic to early Imperial Period, ca. late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE. A stunning opaque mosaic glass vessel of a traditional form from the period, this patella cup presents a mesmerizing, all-encompassing pattern comprised of canes in red, white, black, and yellow enclosed in red as well as canes of yellow spirals within emerald-green glass, all surrounded by a matrix of aubergine and white hues. Despite its blackened exterior appearance, the bowl emits a delicate amethyst hue in a marbled pattern when illuminated with bright light. The entire carinated vessel is supported by an applied ring foot of similarly-colored glass. An elegant and graceful example with scattered areas of faint silvery iridescence from the height of the Roman Empire! Size: 3.55" Diameter x 1.5" H (9 cm x 3.8 cm).
  
  A mosaic glass patella is a rarity, as most were made of metal or earthenware. Those simpler patellae were used domestically - for the practical purpose of holding food (or, in the case of a small one like this, sauce like garum or condiments like salt). Finer patella like this example were used for the ritual purpose of making offerings to the Lares, the hearth guardians. Plautus even called these gods "patellari dii," the patella gods.
  
  Pliny described the eye-like forms of mosaic glass in his Natural History, "Pieces of broken glass can, when heated to a moderate temperature, be stuck together, but that is all. They can never again be completely melted except into globules separate from each other, as happens in the making of the bits of glass sometimes called 'eyes,' and which in some cases have a variety of colors arranged in several different patterns" (Pliny, Natural History XXXVI.199).
  
  For a stylistically-similar example made from different-colored glass, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1972.118.178: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255488
  
  A strikingly-similar example hammered for $10,000 at Christie's, New York Antiquities auction (sale 2709, June 6, 2013, lot 508): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-roman-mosaic-glass-patella-circa-late-5684658-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5684658&sid=1236a9d0-0bf9-4597-b568-c41223eefff9
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-Mario & Anita Zuerrer Estate collection, Zurich Switzerland, acquired in the 1980s
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #143941

  Condition

  Small area of repair to body with light adhesive residue along break line. Small chip to rim, with minor abrasions to exterior surfaces, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits and faint silver iridescence throughout.
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