Cameo Glass - Roman Glass

Roman Glass

Despite the advantages described above, fragile Roman cameo glass is extremely rare - much more so than natural gemstone cameos like the Gemma Augustea and Gonzaga Cameo, which are the among the largest examples of many hundreds (at least) of surviving classical cameos produced from the 3rd century BC onwards. Only about 200 fragments and 15 complete objects of early Roman cameo glass survive. The best and most famous example of these, and also among the best preserved, is the Portland Vase in the British Museum. Other fine examples, such as the Morgan Cup (Corning Museum of Glass), are drinking cups. Both of these named pieces show complex multi-figured mythological scenes, whose iconography has been much debated. The Getty Villa has another cup, and a perfume bottle with scenes of Egyptian deities, apparently an early instance of Orientalism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has a fragment over 11 inches (28 cm) long and 5 inches (13 cm) high from what was evidently an architectural revetment showing an acanthus frieze with eagles, the luxurious equivalent in glass of a "Campana relief" in pottery.

Judging from the very limited number of survivals, cameo glass was apparently produced in two periods: the early period about 30BC to 60AD, and then for about a century from the late-3rd century to the period of Constantine the Great and his sons. The latter period also saw a brief court revival of the art of gem-carving, which had been in decline. All these dates are somewhat tentative, and it is possible that smaller gem-like pieces of cameo glass continued to be produced between these periods.

Glass from the later period is even rarer than from the earlier, with only a "handful" of complete pieces known, one of which was excavated in Norway. Its use was clearly restricted to the elite; the Portland Vase is said to have been excavated from the tomb of the Emperor Septimus Severus, for whom it would have been a 200 year-old antique. The most popular color scheme for objects from the early period is white over blue, as in the vase from Pompeii (illustration), but other colors are found, such as the white over black, imitating onyx, of the Portland Vase. In the early period usually all layers are opaque. By contrast, in the later period, there is a translucent colored overlay over a virtually colorless background, perhaps imitating rock crystal. The surface of the top layer elements is flat rather than carved as in the earlier group of pieces.

• The other side of the Portland Vase

• Satyr giving grapes to the infant Bacchus. 1st century.

• The initiation of Ariadne into the Dionysian mysteries. From Pompeii

• Companion panel