Schooled by a Fish

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Announcer: This is a Getty podcast.

[Theme music begins]

Host: Get ready to dive in [splash] with this glass flask that’s too cool for school... a school of fish, that is! [bubbling]

Welcome to If Objects Could Talk, a podcast where art and artifacts get to leave the museum vault and tell their side of the story. Thanks for joining us as we bring objects into the light! [bubbling]

[Theme music ends]

Pop quiz: do you have anything in your house that is silly and seriously useful at the same time? Maybe there’s a kitchen timer...that’s shaped like an egg! [ticking, timer ding] Or a key hook by the door...that looks like a dog’s tail! [barking] Well, people in ancient times also liked making things fun and functional like today’s guest: a fish-shaped flask made to hold the era’s most popular condiment—fish sauce!

[Calm music begins]

She was made from blown glass about one thousand, seven hundred years ago in the Roman Empire. I think I hear our fishy friend swimming this way now. Let’s reel her in!

[Object drops in water, fishing line being reeled]

Fish Flask: Hellooooo class! Are we ready to get creative today? That’s one thing I love about museums—inspiration is everywhere! You could even learn a lesson about learning. [laughs] But I’m getting ahead of things.

[Mystical music begins]

I haven’t even introduced myself yet! I’m a glass flask about the size of a grown-up’s hand. I was made of clear green glass almost two millennia ago, although I’m a bit browner now with age.

I have the oval body of a fish, complete with two fins and a long, curved tail that turns into a spout! I even have a detailed face, with blobs of glass for eyes and a mouth pinched into two stuck-out fish lips. [kissing sound]

[Music ends]

Not only am I shaped like a fish, I’m also made to hold a special fish sauce called garum. Try dunking your fries in that next time! [voice says “yummy!”]

I think it’s also pretty funny that I’m a fish, but I don’t come from the ocean. [ocean waves] Instead, I come from the shore! The sandy shore, that is.

Can you believe that a hard, smooth, and clear material like glass is actually made from gritty, granular sand? [sand being poured]

Glass all starts with a pot of sand. The sand is mixed with other ingredients like plant ash and limestone and heated into a mass of hot, molten glass. [fire burning]

This is then placed on the end of a blowpipe, which is like a huge, heavy duty metal straw. The glassblower takes a deep breath [voice inhales] and blows it into the pipe. [voice exhales] This air travels down the tube and into the glass, blowing it up like a bubble or a balloon! [balloon inflating] While the glass is still hot and malleable, the glassmaker transforms it into a new shape. [voices say “oooh”]

[Gentle guitar music]

Blowing glass meant glass items could be made using fewer materials so glass became something that even middle class families could have in their homes. [cash register dings]

As glassblowers had more business, they could try making new, more creative things—like me! [triumphant horn]

[Sigh] It really is an impressive skill, glassblowing. Admired by many but learned by few.

How do you like to learn? Today you have lots of ways to learn—from the classroom, [classroom chatter] from museums, [museum chatter] maybe even from [clears throat] wonderfully instructive podcasts. [three taps on a mic, voice says “mic check”]

[Laugh] All of these are marvelous ways to learn new things! But for centuries, someone who wanted to learn a craft, like glassblowing, would become an apprentice. [twinkle]

Now that I think about it, I bet you’ve also learned a few things like an apprentice would! Have you ever helped out in the kitchen and learned how to cook at the same time? [kitchen noises] Or maybe you’ve learned how to plant vegetables by lending a hand in the backyard or a community garden? [digging and raking] That’s how apprentices learn—by doing, with a little help from an expert teacher, of course! [group says “ahh”]

[Accordian music begins]

In Ancient Rome, apprentices really had two jobs—one was to learn as much as they could, but the other was to work as much as they could! They didn’t just go to their apprenticeship in the morning and then go back home in the evening like your modern-day schools. An apprenticeship became their whole lives.

Apprentices would often become part of their master’s family, eating with them, [dishes clanging] sleeping in the home, [snoring] and helping out in the workshops,[hammering] all in exchange for disciplina, patrocinium, and nomen; that is, the teaching of skills, patronage, and fame.

But personally, I think there are two more traits that go a long way for all leaners, apprentices or otherwise: creativity and kindness. Don’t believe me? [mystical music begins] Here’s a tale for you—a fish tail, if you will! [splashing]

It begins with a boy named Petronius. Petronius loved seeing the beautiful items made from glass and wanted to learn the art of glassblowing himself. But unfortunately for Petronius, the first day of his apprenticeship was all chores. [crowd booing]

[sigh] Isn’t that the worst? The world is so full of such wonderful things to create and do, but to get there you must first learn...the basics.

[Energetic music begins]

I remember how basic I was myself back then. I was a drab and dull flask, no decor or whimsy to my form. I watched from a shelf on Petronius’ first day. He ran errands [footsteps] and swept trash [sweeping] and waited around to be noticed. [sigh]

Petronius wasn’t even in the actual workroom, yet! You see, glass-blowing can be a bit, well, dangerous. At first glance, it’s a little like blowing bubbles with a bubble wand. A steady breath can make glass bubble up like soap! [bubbling]

Too soft and nothing will happen, too strong and the bubble might pop.

The trouble is, this bubble is made from hot, melted glass. When it pops, it burns. [voice gasping from heat]

The master didn’t want Petronius anywhere near fire and molten glass [deep grumbling voice] until he could take the time to teach Petronius how to be safe.

[Mystical music begins]

So Petronius spent his day doing boring tasks until everyone else went inside for dinner. [footsteps, then yawning] Then Petronius crept carefully to the shelves where a dozen or so of us were cooling. He was mesmerized by the beautiful colors of the glittering glass. [child’s voice says “ wow”]

But we all knew he shouldn’t be in there alone...We whispered worriedly to each other as he came closer. Petronius had just picked me up to examine me when a voice rang out, “What are you doing!”

Well, you can imagine how that turned out. Me, shattered on the floor. [breaking glass] And Quintus, the oldest apprentice, staring coldly across the workroom at a very ashamed Petronius.

[Dramatic music begins]

Petronius was afraid his apprenticeship was over before it had really begun. And I was afraid I’d be swept into the trash! [sweeping]

But then Quintus did something that surprised us both. You see, there’s something very special about glass. It can be recycled! [voices cheering]

Glass can be melted down and made into something brand new! Maybe you’ve helped sort glass into the recycling bin at home. But did you know there are other things you can do to prevent waste, too? You can re-use items [triumphant horns] artistically!

Maybe not anything as dramatic as broken glass. Let’s leave handling sharp objects to the experts! I’ve got another assignment in mind for you. Think about what’s around your home. Got any used-up toilet paper rolls? [crumpling paper] I bet they’d love their next life as a pair of binoculars! Or perhaps some musically inclined tin cans [metal] could really shine as a wind chime. Or maybe there’s an old t-shirt that’s ready to be remade into a tote-bag. [ripping fabric] It can be scary, turning into something new, but I’ll always be grateful for the second chance I got.

Now, where were we?

[Pensive music begins]

Oh, yes. Broken pieces of me all across the floor. [glass shifting] First, Petronius swept up my glass shards. [sweeping glass] Then Quintus took over, re-melting me [furnace burning] into a scorching ball of molten glass. It was hot enough to burn your skin, but to me, it felt like a nice evening bath. Relaxing!

Petronius watched closely, asking question after question. Quintus thought, “why not show Petronius the many tricks of the trade and get a little creative too!” Quintus inflated me into a little glass ball, all puffed up like I was holding my breath! [takes big gulp of air]

Then he let me deflate a bit, [deflating sound] so I became a little flatter.

Next, Quintus trailed molten glass around my body and tail to make stripes, [slide whistle] added dabs for the eyes, [two taps] and pinched two fishy lips into existence.[wet kiss] Finally, as he clipped me from the blow pipe, [scissors cut] he let the spout part of me tip upwards a bit, like the tail of a fish. [bubbling]

Yes, he made a charming and artistic fish flask, if I do say so myself.

[Mystical music begins]

Both Petronius and Quintus became masters in their time, with apprentices of their own. But Petronius never forgot my first teaching moment [chatting, workshop sounds] in the kindness Quintus showed him, or the way that Quintus had turned a mistake into something marvelous. That’s a real artist, if you ask me. I bet you can do it, too! Think about it the next time you see something destined for the trash heap. With a little imagination, maybe you could make it even better than before!

[Theme music begins]

Host: I hope you enjoyed learning about glassblowing and apprenticeships! Join us next time when a household god graces us with his presence. [magic poof]

To see photographs of the fish flask and learn more, visit our website at Getty dot edu slash podcasts.

This episode was written by Claire Hupy and produced by Zoe Goldman. Katie Jostock voiced the fish. Theme music, mixing and sound design by Alexandra Kalinowski. Christopher Sprinkle is executive producer.

Special thanks to curators Ken Lapatin, Judith Barr, and Hana Sugioka.

Catch you next time!

[Theme music ends]