A Miniature Abbasid mosaic Glass Bowl, Near East, circa 9th Century

of rounded form, with sections of canes with red centres coated in opaque-white and yellow, embedded in a green matrix and fused in a disk

Small bowls of this type were most probably used by women to mix kohl and othere cosmetics. There are comparable examples in the al-Sabah Collection (Carboni 2001, cat. 7a, p. 29, and Carboni and Whitehouse 2001, no.63, p.150) and David Collection, Copenhagen (von Folsach 1990, no.241). Fragments of mosaic glass tilework excavated at the Jawsaq al-Khaqani palace, Samarra, suggests a mid ninth-century date for the group (Carboni and Whitehouse 2001, p.148).