A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive tessella) is an individual tile in a mosaic, usually formed in the shape of a cube.

In antiquity, mosaics were formed from naturally colored pebbles, but by 200 BCE purpose-made tesserae were being used. Marble or limestone was cut into small cubes that were arranged into the required design. Later, tesserae were made from colored glass, or clear glass backed with metal foils.

Another kind of tessera was the ancient Roman equivalent of a theater ticket. Stamped into a clay shard was an entrance aisle and row number for spectators attending an event at an amphitheater or arena. Above the doors of the Colosseum in Rome are numbers corresponding to those stamped into a spectator's tessera.

Tesserae is also the term for dice used in ancient Rome and for the layers of calcification on shark scales. Several commercial enterprises operate under the name Tessera or Tesserae, usually because their products deal in grids of some form.

Tessera is also a frazione of the commune of Venice nearest to Mestre.

See also

• The mosaic article describes techniques for assembling tesserae into a design on different surfaces.
• The tessellation article describes tessellation patterns.

Mosaic

tessel·la | Tessera | tesela