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Announcer: This is
a Getty podcast.

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Host: Get ready to dive in
with this glass flask that’s

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too cool for school... a
school of fish, that is!

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Welcome to If Objects Could
Talk, a podcast where art

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and artifacts get to leave
the museum vault and tell

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their side of the story.

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Thanks for joining us as we
bring objects into the light!

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Pop quiz: do you have
anything in your house

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that is silly and seriously
useful at the same time?

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Maybe there’s a
kitchen timer...that’s

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shaped like an egg!

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Or a key hook by the door...that
looks like a dog’s tail!

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Well, people in ancient times
also liked making things fun

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and functional like today’s
guest: a fish-shaped flask

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made to hold the era’s most
popular condiment—fish sauce!

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She was made from blown
glass about one thousand,

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seven hundred years ago
in the Roman Empire.

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I think I hear our fishy
friend swimming this way now.

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Let’s reel her in!

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Fish Flask: Hellooooo class!

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Are we ready to
get creative today?

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That’s one thing I love
about museums—inspiration

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is everywhere!

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You could even learn a
lesson about learning.

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[laughs] But I’m
getting ahead of things.

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I haven’t even
introduced myself yet!

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I’m a glass flask about the
size of a grown-up’s hand.

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I was made of clear green
glass almost two millennia

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ago, although I’m a bit
browner now with age.

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I have the oval body of
a fish, complete with two

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fins and a long, curved tail
that turns into a spout!

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I even have a detailed face,
with blobs of glass for eyes

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and a mouth pinched into
two stuck-out fish lips.

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Not only am I shaped like a
fish, I’m also made to hold a

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special fish sauce called garum.

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Try dunking your fries
in that next time!

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I think it’s also pretty
funny that I’m a fish, but

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I don’t come from the ocean.

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Instead, I come from the shore!

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The sandy shore, that is.

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Can you believe that a hard,
smooth, and clear material

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like glass is actually made
from gritty, granular sand?

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Glass all starts
with a pot of sand.

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The sand is mixed with other
ingredients like plant ash

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and limestone and heated into
a mass of hot, molten glass.

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This is then placed on the end
of a blowpipe, which is like a

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huge, heavy duty metal straw.

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The glassblower
takes a deep breath

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and blows it into the pipe.

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This air travels down the tube
and into the glass, blowing it

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up like a bubble or a balloon!

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While the glass is still hot
and malleable, the glassmaker

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transforms it into a new shape.

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Blowing glass meant glass
items could be made using

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fewer materials so glass
became something that

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even middle class families
could have in their homes.

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As glassblowers had more
business, they could

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try making new, more
creative things—like me!

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[Sighs] It really is an
impressive skill, glassblowing.

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Admired by many
but learned by few.

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How do you like to learn?

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Today you have lots of ways
to learn—from the classroom,

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from museums, maybe even from
[clears throat] wonderfully

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instructive podcasts.

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[Laughs] All of

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these are marvelous ways
to learn new things!

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But for centuries, someone
who wanted to learn a

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craft, like glassblowing,
would become an apprentice.

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Now that I think about it, I
bet you’ve also learned a few

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things like an apprentice would!

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Have you ever helped out in
the kitchen and learned how

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to cook at the same time?

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Or maybe you’ve learned
how to plant vegetables by

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lending a hand in the backyard
or a community garden?

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That’s how apprentices learn—by
doing, with a little help from

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an expert teacher, of course!

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In Ancient Rome, apprentices
really had two jobs—one was

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to learn as much as they
could, but the other was to

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work as much as they could!

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They didn’t just go to
their apprenticeship in the

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morning and then go back
home in the evening like

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your modern-day schools.

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An apprenticeship became
their whole lives.

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Apprentices would often become
part of their master’s family,

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eating with them, sleeping
in the home, and helping

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out in the workshops, all
in exchange for disciplina,

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patrocinium, and nomen;

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that is, the teaching of
skills, patronage, and fame.

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But personally, I think there
are two more traits that go

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a long way for all leaners,
apprentices or otherwise:

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creativity and kindness.

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Don’t believe me?

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Here’s a tale for you—a
fish tail, if you will!

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It begins with a
boy named Petronius.

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Petronius loved seeing the
beautiful items made from

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glass and wanted to learn the
art of glassblowing himself.

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But unfortunately for
Petronius, the first day of his

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apprenticeship was all chores.

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[sigh] Isn’t that the worst?

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The world is so full of such
wonderful things to create

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and do, but to get there you
must first learn...the basics.

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I remember how basic I
was myself back then.

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I was a drab and dull flask,
no decor or whimsy to my form.

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I watched from a shelf
on Petronius’ first day.

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He ran errands and swept trash
and waited around to be noticed.

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[sighs]

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Petronius wasn’t even in
the actual workroom, yet!

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You see, glass-blowing can
be a bit, well, dangerous.

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At first glance, it’s
a little like blowing

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bubbles with a bubble wand.

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A steady breath can make
glass bubble up like soap!

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Too soft and nothing will
happen, too strong and

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the bubble might pop.

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The trouble is, this bubble is
made from hot, melted glass.

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When it pops, it burns.

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The master didn’t want
Petronius anywhere near fire

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and molten glass until he
could take the time to teach

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Petronius how to be safe.

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So Petronius spent his day doing
boring tasks until everyone

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else went inside for dinner.

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Then Petronius crept carefully
to the shelves where a dozen

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or so of us were cooling.

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He was mesmerized by
the beautiful colors of

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the glittering glass.

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But we all knew he shouldn’t
be in there alone...We

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whispered worriedly to each
other as he came closer.

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Petronius had just picked me
up to examine me when a voice

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rang out, “What are you doing!”

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Well, you can imagine
how that turned out.

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Me, shattered on the floor.

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And Quintus, the oldest
apprentice, staring coldly

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across the workroom at a
very ashamed Petronius.

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Petronius was afraid his
apprenticeship was over

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before it had really begun.

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And I was afraid I’d be
swept into the trash!

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But then Quintus did something
that surprised us both.

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You see, there’s something
very special about glass.

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It can be recycled!

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Glass can be melted down and
made into something brand new!

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Maybe you’ve helped sort glass
into the recycling bin at home.

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But did you know there
are other things you can

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do to prevent waste, too?

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You can re-use items

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artistically!

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Maybe not anything as
dramatic as broken glass.

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Let’s leave handling sharp
objects to the experts!

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I’ve got another
assignment in mind for you.

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Think about what’s
around your home.

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Got any used-up
toilet paper rolls?

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I bet they’d love their next
life as a pair of binoculars!

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Or perhaps some musically
inclined tin cans could

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really shine as a wind chime.

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Or maybe there’s an old
t-shirt that’s ready to

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be remade into a tote-bag.

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It can be scary, turning
into something new, but

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I’ll always be grateful for
the second chance I got.

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Now, where were we?

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Oh, yes.

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Broken pieces of me
all across the floor.

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First, Petronius swept
up my glass shards.

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Then Quintus took over,
re-melting me into a scorching

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ball of molten glass.

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It was hot enough to burn
your skin, but to me, it felt

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like a nice evening bath.

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Relaxing!

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Petronius watched closely,
asking question after question.

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Quintus thought, “why not show
Petronius the many tricks of the

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trade and get a little creative
too!” Quintus inflated me into

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a little glass ball, all puffed
up like I was holding my breath!

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Then he let me deflate a bit,
so I became a little flatter.

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Next, Quintus trailed
molten glass around my body

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and tail to make stripes,

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added dabs for the eyes,
and pinched two fishy

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lips into existence.

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Finally, as he clipped me
from the blow pipe, he let the

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spout part of me tip upwards a
bit, like the tail of a fish.

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Yes, he made a charming
and artistic fish flask,

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if I do say so myself.

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Both Petronius and Quintus
became masters in their time,

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with apprentices of their own.

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But Petronius never forgot
my first teaching moment

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in the kindness Quintus
showed him, or the way that

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Quintus had turned a mistake
into something marvelous.

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That’s a real artist,
if you ask me.

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I bet you can do it, too!

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Think about it the next
time you see something

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destined for the trash heap.

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With a little imagination,
maybe you could make it

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even better than before!

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Host: I hope you enjoyed
learning about glassblowing

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and apprenticeships!

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Join us next time when
a household god graces

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us with his presence.

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To see photographs of the
fish flask and learn more,

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visit our website at Getty
dot edu slash podcasts.

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This episode was written
by Claire Hupy and

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produced by Zoe Goldman.

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Katie Jostock voiced the fish.

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Theme music, mixing and sound
design by Alexandra Kalinowski.

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Christopher Sprinkle
is executive producer.

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Special thanks to curators
Ken Lapatin, Judith

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Barr, and Hana Sugioka.

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Catch you next time!