Object of the Day: A Hellenistic Mosaic Glass Bowl

A Hellenistic mosaic glass bowl, late 3rd-2nd Century BC. Private collection.

Assembled from sections of composite mosaic glass pieces, this 2,000 year-old hemispherical bowl literally sparkles in the light with its swirl of yellow spirals on a translucent cobalt-blue ground, the surface expertly polished to create the scintillating effect that echoes John Keat’s immortal line: “a thing of beauty is a joy forever.”

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