Glassmaking Technique: Mosaic Glass

Like a stone mosaic, mosaic glass is made up of a number of small pieces fused together. Ribbon glass was made by fusing canes or rods of glass placed side by side, while marbled glass was created from multiple colors of glass that were heated and melted together to form patterns similar to multi-colored stones. Mosaic glass is one of the most colorful types of ancient glass. Watch a demonstration of this method in this video featuring footage from the Corning Museum of Glass.

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Closed Caption:

(lute playing softly)
- [Voiceover] Mosaic
glass vessels are made
from long canes of glass that are cut
into thin sections and
then fused together.
To make a spiral cane,
a mass of colored glass
is thinly coated in
colorless glass, then rolled
on a marver to give it
a cylindrical shape.
The glass is flattened by pressing it
against the marver with another tool.
Gradually, the flattened glass is
pulled to form a thick ribbon.
The ribbon is rolled up onto itself.
The glass is then cut
free of the metal rod.
The rod is reattached, but this time
to the side of the rolled up glass.
After reheating, a second rod
is attached to the other side.
The rolled up ribbon is gently stretched
from its edges to form a long cane.
The cane is cut into manageable lengths.
Once cooled, the cane is cut again,
this time into thin sections.
The sections are arranged
on a ceramic slab,
and then placed into a furnace.
After the glass softens, and begins
to flow slightly, any
gaps are squeezed closed.
While the mosaic sections are still soft,
a decorative edge cane is added.
After further reheating, the sections
and edge cane are squeezed
and pressed together,
to form a perfectly flat disk.
The disk is transferred
to a slumping form,
and placed into the furnace.
After a few seconds, gravity forces
the glass downward over the form.
As the glass and form cool,
they can be separated.
Finally, after annealing, or slow cooling,
the bowl can be ground and polished.
(lute playing softly)