Museum reassembles ancient Roman dish

LONDON -- An extremely rare Roman dish made of translucent blue glass pieces was put on display Wednesday at the Museum of London in Docklands.

The piece was found in the grave of a wealthy Roman Londoner during excavation work in the eastern parts of the British capital.

Museum officials believe it is the first dish of its kind found in what was the western region of the Roman empire. This type of dish was extremely popular in the 1st and 2nd centuries.

It was called a millefiori dish and made with a glass working technique that used glass rods and multicolored patterns.

The dish was reassembled after it was found along with other glassware and ceramics in the gravesite.

"Piecing together and conserving such a complete artifact offered a rare and thrilling challenge," museum conservator Liz Goodman said. "We occasionally get tiny fragments of millefiori, but the opportunity to work on a whole artifact of this nature is extraordinary."

She said the dish is very fragile but that the glasswork is beautiful despite being nearly 2,000 years ago.