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Lot Essay
The slightly angular head, straight profile line and small round chin resemble another known portrait of the emperor Caligula (37-41 A.D.), cf. E. Zwierlein-Diehl, Magie der Steine. Die antiken Prunkkameen im Kunsthistorischen Museum, Wien, 2008, pp. 142-147, no. 10.
According to Weiss this type of cameo belongs to a series of gems with imperial portraits created to celebrate a new emperor and legitimise the passage of power from his predecessor. The first example is a cameo showing a portrait of Augustus and one of his successor Tiberius, possibly mounted as two sides of the same gem. It is possible that this practice was then continued by Tiberius and his adopted son Caligula, cf. C. Weiss, 'Neues aus der Gemmensammlung, Fragment eines Glaskameo mit dem Porträt des Augustus', in Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1995, pp. 540-554 and pp. 550-551.
For other examples of glass cameos portraying the emperor Tiberius, cf. C. Weiss, 'Octavian als Knabe, Divus Augustus und Tiberius. Drei Glyptische Porträts, Numismatica e Antichità Classiche,' in Quaderni Ticinesi 34, 2005, pp. 239-241, fig. 13; and C. Weiss, in V. Gedzevičūte et al., 2000 Jahre antikes Glas. Schmuck und Alltagsgerät. Die Sammlung antiker Gläser im Martin-von-Wagner-Museum der Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, 2010, p. 56, no. 1.
According to Weiss this type of cameo belongs to a series of gems with imperial portraits created to celebrate a new emperor and legitimise the passage of power from his predecessor. The first example is a cameo showing a portrait of Augustus and one of his successor Tiberius, possibly mounted as two sides of the same gem. It is possible that this practice was then continued by Tiberius and his adopted son Caligula, cf. C. Weiss, 'Neues aus der Gemmensammlung, Fragment eines Glaskameo mit dem Porträt des Augustus', in Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1995, pp. 540-554 and pp. 550-551.
For other examples of glass cameos portraying the emperor Tiberius, cf. C. Weiss, 'Octavian als Knabe, Divus Augustus und Tiberius. Drei Glyptische Porträts, Numismatica e Antichità Classiche,' in Quaderni Ticinesi 34, 2005, pp. 239-241, fig. 13; and C. Weiss, in V. Gedzevičūte et al., 2000 Jahre antikes Glas. Schmuck und Alltagsgerät. Die Sammlung antiker Gläser im Martin-von-Wagner-Museum der Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, 2010, p. 56, no. 1.