Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2013.

Mosaic Cup

Manufacturer Unknown

CultureEastern Mediterranean | Alexandria

Date1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.

MediumMolded glass

DimensionsOverall: 1 11/16 in. (4.3 cm)
Overall, Rim: 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.6790

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 116-1, Case 1

DescriptionBowl/cup. Millerfiori. Tea cup shape with a molded ring base and a flaring top third. Green glass with yellow, blue and red canes. Scattered and irregularly placed. Well reconstructed all pieces intact. Some weathering iridescent inside. 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D.-Eastern Mediterranean or Alexandria.

Label TextEastern Mediterranean Mosaic Cup or Bowl, late 1st century B.C.-early 1st century A.D. Assembled sections of pre-formed glass cane, fused together and cast; applied base ring; ground and polished Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.6790 Glass bowls 18-22 were made by casting a hot disc of glass over a mold, either convex or concave. The hot glass would slump or sag over the mold, forming an open vessel. The hot disc could be rods of glass cane fused together, as seen in this example, or a single color of glass, as seen in the other bowls in this case. Exhibition HistoryIllustration used on WTAR-TV show, 5/25/72. Published ReferencesCorning Museum, _The Ray Winfield Smith Collection Glass From the Ancient World_, #140, Syria or Alexandria, 1st-2nd Cent. Corning Museum of Glass, _A Decade of Glass Collectiing, Billups Collection_, pg. 11, #7, 1st century A.D. Goldstein, _Pre-Roman & Early Roman Glass in the Corning Museum_, #491-494, pp. 184-187.