Roman fine glass and stone mosaic depicting a parrot

R211

£2,500.00

Sold

A fragment from a mosaic floor decorated with a figure of a parrot. The mosaic is designed on a background of indurated limestone tesserae and the bird is composed with the use of black, red and yellow stone as well as green, blue and turquoise glass tesserae. The use of unsually fine and small tesserae indicate that this vibrant mosaic would have adorned a very wealthy building.

A similar mosaic parrot figure can be seen in the bedroom of the Villa of the Birds in Kom el Dikka, Alexandria, Egypt. Also very close comparison may be found on the Mosaic of the Birds at Italica, near Seville in Spain.

Culture:
Roman, 1st or 2nd Century AD

Size:
29 x 32 cms, frame 38 x 41 x 24/15 cms

Condition:
Fragment as shown with areas of loss filled with cement, the extant tesserae are in their original composition and there does not appear to have been any reconstruction to the design

Provenance:
Ex. deceased estate, Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France, acquired prior to 1990 and formerly in a late 19th Century French provincial museum collection. The mosaic is mounted into a custom-built late 19th Century wooden frame on legs, the legs are proportioned so that the mosaic can be viewed at a comfortable angle. The back of the mosaic is set into a cement panel and this is inscribed in 19th Century partially legible script with the provenance and former museum donor: “Mosaique Romain, de Cuburlu(?) Magna, Cun????” and “Donne par Mme Perriez”.

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