Vase Pendant
Unknown Artist
4th–5th century
Medium
Glass
Dimensions
1 3/16 × 5/8 × 1/2 in. (3 × 1.6 × 1.2 cm)
Classification
Glass
Culture
Egyptian possibly
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Helen Miller Gould, 1910
Accession Number
10.130.995
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate glass vase pendant, crafted in the 4th or 5th century, offers a charming glimpse into the jewelry traditions of late antiquity. Measuring just over an inch tall, the tiny vessel was likely designed to be worn as personal adornment, perhaps suspended from a chain or cord. Its possible Egyptian origin places it within a region renowned for glassmaking expertise that stretched back centuries, where artisans transformed molten glass into intricate, miniature forms. Glass held special significance in this era, valued for its luminous quality and versatility. Techniques such as moldin...