bead

Object NameMosaic Bead

Made FromGlass

Date99 BCE-99 CE

TechniqueWound, fused

SizeOverall L: 1.7 cm, Diam (max): 1.6 cm

Accession Number74.1.40

Curatorial Area(s)

Ancient

Exhibitions

Glass from the Ancient World

Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead

Verres Antiques de la Collection R.W. Smith

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

The mosaic technique originated early in the history of glassmaking, but it was reintroduced by Hellenistic and Roman artisans. Mosaic canes were made from thin rods of glass that were fused, stretched, and cut into tiny slices to form often intricate decorative motifs. These canes were used by the Romans to create glass beads, as can be seen in their famous face beads (e.g.,54.1.154, 62.1.25, and 95.1.4). This example illustrates the advanced skills of Roman glass- and beadmakers. It is one of the most complex forms of mosaic glass beads. The bead includes 18 cane plaques with four different patterns placed within a dark-colored matrix in three registers. The imagery on the plaques is related to the style that developed as the Roman Empire spread into Egypt and blended various iconographic motifs—such as lions, papyri, and rosettes—with its own decorative elements.

Place Made

Roman Empire; possibly Egypt; possibly Syria

Physical DescriptionMosaic Bead. Opaque matrix, pitted with silver iridescence obscuring color, mosaic inlays are composed of opaque light blue, red, white, purple, yellow and unidentifiable canes; wound and decorated with eighteen mosaic canes. Long ellipsoid bead decorated with three registers of mosaic canes, the central register is a red lion on a white field alternating with a red rosette on a light blue field, the upper and lower registers repeat a yellow rosette on a dark field above and below the center rosette, while a red and white lotus bud on a dark field bracket the lion cane both above and below.
Provenance

Provenance Remark

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