This work of art is temporarily off view while the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion galleries are reinstalled.

Roman
Probably Italy

The colorful striped pattern of this bowl exploits properties specific to glass: intense colors made possible through the addition of metal oxides and the glowing effect of light passing through the translucent material.  Wine-drinking services of glass—often imitating the shapes or appearance of tableware made of silver, gold, or semiprecious stone—had been popular in the Mediterranean world since the 3rd century B.C.

The technique of creating vessels from multi-colored glass rods (called canes) is known as “mosaic glass”. This exquisite bowl was made using a variation of the technique, called “ribbon glass”. Lengths and sections of thin rods of cane—some composed of one color, some of multiple colors—were sliced and arranged side by side, then fused together with heat to form a mosaic glass disc. This disc was placed on top of a convex mold and heated, so that it sagged over the mold, taking on its shape.

Mosaic (ribbon) glass technique, cast, late 1st century B.C. to early 1st century A.D.
Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1968.87