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Early Byzantine Glass Looped Pendant
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Item Number: CA-15-450
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CULTURE / REGION OF ORIGIN: Byzantine Empire, probably Levantine coastal region.
DATE: Late 4th to 6th Century AD
DIMENSIONS: 1.4 cm (0.55 in.) tall
DESCRIPTION: An early Byzantine glass amuletic looped pendant bead, rod formed in a rapid single stage process and quickly tooled, formed of pale purple amethyst colored glass with a thin layer of encrustation on some areas. The drop-shaped body has been elongated at one end and pulled back on itself to create the thick suspension loop. Some studies of the type have ascribed a Christian meaning to this class of object but this is still debated. Intact and wearable.
PROVENANCE: Formerly in a Canadian private collection
COMPARISONS: See Maud Spaer,Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum, Beads and Other Small Objects, catalog #s 414-422, for several similar examples. |
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