Fragment of an Inlay Depicting a Fish
Ptolemaic Period–Roman Period, (1st century BCE–1st century CE)
Medium
Glass, mosaic technique
Dimensions
3 × 2 × 0.5 cm (1 3/16 × 3/4 × 3/16 in.)
Classification
fragment
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
67858
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In ancient Rome, there was a high demand for colorful glass that could dazzle banquet guests alongside the expensive silver and gold serving wares meant to impress. Fragments like this one would have once been a part of larger mosaic dishes. The mosaic pattern was made by sagging molten glass into bowl-shaped molds, a technique used on many of these fragments is similar to millefiori, “thousand flowers” in Italian, a modern glass-making method in which tiny rods of colored glass are bundled toge...
About the Artist
Ancient Roman
The artists attributed to "Ancient Roman" in museum collections represent the anonymous craftsmen who produced the vast output of sculpture, frescoes, mosaics, and reliefs defining Roman visual culture from the Republic (c. 509–27 BCE) to the late Empire (c. 395 CE). Individual identities remain elusive, as Roman makers were typically viewed as skilled tradesmen—often enslaved Greeks or provincial...