Mosaic Bowl

Unknown

1st century B.C.

Glass

J. Paul Getty Museum

A glass bowl with a mosaic pattern of blue, gold, and white squares and circles sits on a pedestal base. The bowl has a wide opening and a slightly flared rim. This shallow bowl with splayed out sides is made of squarish pieces of white, blue, and yellow glass. Small spirals made up of white, blue, and clear glass intermingle with the monochrome. Around the bowl's rim, the glassmaker affixed a thread of near-transparent glass featuring a twist pattern. The creation of this bowl would have been a laborious and time-consuming process. First, the glassmaker created rods of monochrome and polychrome glass. These rods were then stretched and cut into slices. The slices were placed together to form a circle on a flat panel and heated until they fused. The resulting disc was then sagged over a mo