A paperweight holds down paper on a desk or table. The clear glass globe of this paperweight covers a partially-eaten mulberry leaf and four silkworms who feed on it. The green leaf seems to rest on a piece of blue silk, a fabric woven from the threads of cocoons spun by the silkworms. But everything here—leaf, worms, and silk—is made of glass.
The artist heated colored glass until it was soft and shaped it into the plant and animal forms. Then he covered them with clear glass in the shape of a dome.
