FIVE FRAGMENTARY EGYPTIAN MOSAIC GLASS THEATER MASKS INLAYS
THE PROPERTY OF A SWISS COLLECTOR
FIVE FRAGMENTARY EGYPTIAN MOSAIC GLASS THEATER MASKS INLAYS

ROMAN PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details
FIVE FRAGMENTARY EGYPTIAN MOSAIC GLASS THEATER MASKS INLAYS
ROMAN PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
Largest: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) long
Provenance
Antiquities, Sotheby's, London, 20 November 1929, lot 147 (part).

Lot Essay

The 5 inlays presented here most likely represent Dionysos. As E.M. Stern and B. Schlick-Nolte discuss (pp. 376-377 in Early Glass of the Ancient World, 1600 B.C.-A.D. 50, Ernesto Wolf Collection), Dionysos would have been especially popular in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean during this period due to his connection with Mark Antony. In 41 B.C. Antony adopted the god of wine as his divine role model when he went to the East, following "in the footsteps of Hellenistic rulers who had modelled their image on gods" (op. cit., p. 377).

More from Antiquities

View All
View All