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Fragment of an Inlay Depicting a Theater Mask

A work made of glass, mosaic glass technique.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of glass, mosaic glass technique.

Date:

late 1st century BCE-early 1st century CE

Artist:

Egyptian

About this artwork

This half face of a woman or theatrical mask was made from a bundle of dozens of colorful glass rods that were fused together. The resulting bar or cane of glass was then heated and stretched out, thereby miniaturizing the pattern. Slices of the cane were placed in symmetrical pairs to form a complete face. Such inlays embellished furniture, boxes, and household shrines to the gods.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Fragment of an Inlay Depicting a Theater Mask

Place

Egypt (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

100 BCE–100 CE

Medium

Glass, mosaic glass technique

Dimensions

3.6 × 1.4 × 0.4 cm (1 7/16 × 9/16 × 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson

Reference Number

1894.783

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/132070/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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