Roman Millefiori Glass Fragment Silver Pendant

£ 295.00

A Roman fragment of millefiori glass, encased in a modern, silver pendant frame. The glass fragment is rhomboid in shape and features a deep amethyst base colour, almost opaque. Interspersed are flecks of yellow rods, surrounding three vibrant red floral arrangements, with each petal encased in a slender yellow frame. The entire glass fragment is then mounted in a modern silver frame with an attachment loop at the top. Supplied with a sterling silver chain.

Length of the chain 22.5cm when closed. With the pendant attached: 27cm. Measurements below are for the pendant alone.

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Millefiori, is a type of mosaic glass, characterised by its floral patterns. The name itself means ‘a thousand flowers’ in Italian. The technique involved arranging bundles of thin glass rods, of various colours, fusing them together and then drawing them out. They were then cut into cross-sectional fragments and slices to be used as inlays or for larger pieces. Millefiori bowls, for example, would involve large amounts of the sectioned fragments to be applied to an already-blown, hot bowl. The bowl would be heated again, allowing the fragments to fuse seamlessly together and creating a beautiful floral pattern. The millefiori technique was created by Egyptian craftsmen in the 2nd century BC, during the Hellenistic period and used well into the Roman period.