Hi Folks,
I have this
glass wing which I think is beautiful and mysterious because of the way it was made.
Date:
Ptolemaic to
Roman Period
Material:
Red, white, blue, yellow and black
glassSize: L. 11 x W. 6 x T. 5/5.5 mm
Weight: .80 grams
Description: Feathers of
red, yellow and blue
glass against a background of black
glass surrounded by a
border of white
glass. The wing is backed by a thicker layer of
red with a microscopically thin layer of extremely opaque black
glass behind it, so when viewed from the back, it appears black. The method of manufacture defies the imagination. The
glass was heated to very high temperatures, gas formed within the material, rose to the surface, and erupted forming craters on the surface which can be seen upon close examination; the
cross section viewed from the top reveals trapped bubbles.
It may have been an inlay for a winged
scarab or solar disk.
For two spectacular
lapis lazuli
scarabs with
complete wings of similar
quality in the
Miho Museum, Kyoto,
Japan, see the bottom photos.
Russ
