Glass Fragment with a Later Inscription in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2011

Glass fragment with later inscription

Period: Imperial

Date: ca. 1st–3rd century A.D.

Culture: Roman

Medium: Glass; blown and cut

Dimensions: Overall: 2 1/2 x 3 1/8 in. (6.4 x 7.9 cm)

Classification: Glass

Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

Accession Number: 17.194.916

Description:

The fragment has been shown by scientific analysis and examination to be ancient. It is probably part of a bowl or globular bottle that was decorated with linear engraving in antiquity. However, the inscription and floral decoration appear to be modern additions. The inscription is copied from a Roman marble cinerary urn that has been known since 1716 and been in the British Museum since 1804. The decoration was therefore added to the fragment in order to enhance its attractiveness and value probably in the 19th century by an astute, well-informed, but unscrupulous person.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/250123