Decorative Plaques with Plant Motifs

  • Egypt
  • 1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.
  • Glass
Catalogue Entry

113.Decorative Plaques with Palmettes-Lotus Motifs
114.Decorative Plaques with Plant Motifs
115.Decorative Plaques with Floral Motifs
116.Decorative Plaques with Geometric Patterns
117.Decorative Plaques with Trefoil Garland Patterns

From the Ptolemaic period through the early Imperial Roman period, mosaic glass was made into a variety of decorative panels showing stylized floral patterns or abstract patterns resembling flowers, in addition to the more specific expression of individual human or vegetable forms. These patterns include the following four-petal flower, a combined arrangement of a flower centered circular or square shape with palmetto leaves, lotuses, ivy or grapes and other such plant motifs arranged the central flower (cat. No. 114), layered horizontal arrangements of plants (cat. No. 113), and bundles of three long leaves and two branches tipped with fruit arranged horizontally or in floral garland patterns (cat. No. 117), continuous arrays of abstracted forms such as small flowers, leaves, stars, and waves (cat. Nos. 115,116), and patterns which look like landscape elements. These would have been made to fit the shape of the inlay being applied to furnishings or small boxes, and thus finished in circular, square, polyhedral, vertical and horizontal rectangles, or curved forms. There are many examples where the small individual mosaic units have been combined into complex patterns, for example, the second plaque from the right of the second row from the top of cat. No. 114, is a combination of 16 different mosaic units. The majority of these decorative panel motifs were widely used as decoration in Greek architecture, or in the wall paintings and stucco of the Roman period.

Decorative Plaques with Palmettes-Lotus Motifs Dcorative Plaques with Plant Design Decorative Plaques with Floral Motifs, Decorative Plaques with Geometric Patterns Decorative Plaques with Trefoil Garland Design Decorative Plaques with Plant Motifs