Miniature Bowl with Design of Millefiori Motifs

Glass-making in the Islamic world reflects a vibrant tradition dating from ancient times. The Romans first discovered how to blow glass on a rod, while the Iranians in late antiquity specialized in molded glass with wheel-cut decoration.

This tiny bowl from Iraq was made using a revived Roman technique called millefiori, or “thousand flowers,” which entailed slicing through rods of differently colored glass and then heating them slowly in a mold until they fused together.