This polychrome stone tesserae mosaic is based off of an ancient Egyptian glass mosaic from circa the 1st century B.C - 1st century A.D.

A border decorated with yellow and black volutes, suggesting the waves of the sea, and green and white lines frame the main motif composed of eight square elements, arranged so as to create a checkerboard formed by ample, alternating, red, yellow, green, cobalt blue and white diamonds. These form a geometric pattern illusory to the human eye.

According to the latest studies, these plaques would have served as inlaid elements in the decoration of precious pieces of furniture (chairs, footrests, chests, altars, thrones, etc.), linen or papyrus cases, or even in wall adornments. Unfortunately, since materials such as wood are rarely preserved, no original pieces have survived up to modern times; the inlays are therefore known to us through small isolated objects, whose chronology is often diffi cult to determine. In a few cases, they are still inserted into a plaster support; in other cases, they would have been directly inlaid in the wooden structure.