In a period during which colored opaque glass was the norm, people gradually began to discover the transparent beauty of glass itself. Transparent goblets used by the Persians, which were made eye-tricking crystal, were the object of great awe.

The glass beads were made in West, whose unique form was transmitted to China and required such specialized skill to craft them as to be the total perfection of the industrial arts. In China, even one of these beads was thought to be a special object that was imbued with a blessed power.

In Japan, there is a long cylindrical candy called Kintaro ame with faces and other pictures at the center of it. If you stretched it, the even smaller face you might end up with would resemble those on these pieces of mosaic glass. This glass may be the ultimate example of the minute.Look closely at the face. Look at the way the bangs fall around the face, the beads surround the neck and the two white teeth are visible in the mouth.