Rare Roman Mosaic Glass Patella Bowl

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Clearance Sale - Ancient / Ethnographic Art

By Artemis Gallery

Aug 16, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-08-16 10:00:00 2018-08-16 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Clearance Sale - Ancient / Ethnographic Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/clearance-sale---ancient-ethnographic-art-3368
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• Lot Description
  **Originally Listed At $1500**
  
  Roman, early Imperial Period, ca. late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE. A gorgeous and opaque mosaic glass vessel of a traditional form from the period, this patella cup presents a mesmerizing all-encompassing pattern comprised of opaque white sunburst motifs outlined in yellow among a matrix of sectioned, age-darkened canes in fuchsia and pale pink hues. Despite its blackened exterior appearance, the bowl emits a delicate amethyst hue in a marbled pattern when illuminated with bright light. The entire vessel is supported by a miniscule tooled base ring of similarly-blackened purple glass. An elegant and graceful example with scattered areas of lovely silvery and rainbow-hued iridescence from the height of the Roman Empire! Size: 3" W x 1.5" H (7.6 cm x 3.8 cm).
  
  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).
  
  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.
  
  For a similar example, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1972.118.178: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255488
  
  An example with a similar form and a three-color composition hammered for $50,000 at Christie's, New York Antiquities Auction (sale 2565, June 8, 2012, lot 129): https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-roman-mosaic-glass-patella-circa-late-5567269-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5567269&sid=57f03334-4a51-432a-85a5-b1860bc75a1e
  
  Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection
  
  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.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #134572

  Condition

  Repaired from multiple pieces with some small chips and light adhesive residue along break lines. Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age as expected, darkening to exposed glass, minor nicks and roughness along most exposed surfaces, and some fading to coloration. Light silver iridescence, rainbow iridescence, and earthen deposits throughout.
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