Primary Description:
Bowl with Inlaid Nilotic Scene. Dark amethyst, white, red, green, blue, yellow, pink, purple glass; cast, fused, inlaid, ground, polished. Against a background of a dark, aubergine glass, a fantastic scene of a Nilotic landscape is presented in the form of colorful birds, a dragonfly, plants and flowers. The decorative elements are inlaid into the background glass. On the underside is an incised circle. The bowl was manufactured in multiple steps. The first step in the process of manufacturing this bowl was to shape a purple glass disk, into which the scenic elements were inlaid. The inlay technique could have been achieved in two ways. One scenario would have the scenic elements distributed across the surface of the disk, which was then carefully reheated and the elements pressed flat with a tool until they became embedded (inlaid) in the purple glass. In the second scenario, the scenic elements were laid out on a flat surface, and the heated purple disk was placed on top of them. The disk was then pressed onto the elements until they were submerged into the disk sufficiently. The decorated disk was then transferred to a slumping form to give it is present shape. It was carefully pushed over the form to better conform to it. After annealing, the bowl was finished by grinding and polishing.