necklace

Object NameNecklace with Pendants and Beads

Made FromGlass, Faience

Date1400-1250 BCE

TechniqueMold-pressed

SizeOverall L: 41.5 cm; (a) Beads H: 1.7-1.9 cm, Diam (max): .6 cm; (b) Pendants H: 6 cm, W: 1.6 cm, D: .3-1.6 cm

Accession Number66.1.196

Curatorial Area(s)

Ancient

Exhibitions

Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

Glass beads were manufactured in the Mycenaean region of Greece during the Bronze Age, and there was a thriving production from 1390 to 1180 B.C. To the Mycenaeans, glass was a precious material, and they made distinctive forms of beads, pendants, and appliqués in glass. The beads are unique for their period in that they were crafted in the type of flat, open molds that were often employed by the makers of gold beads. These molds produced beads with a relief design on one side only, with the opposite side remaining flat. While many such beads now have extensive weathering that conceals the true colors of the glass, they were usually found in bright blues, as can be seen on the pendants used in this necklace. Motifs for these beads included stylized rosettes, papyrus, and lilies (e.g., 66.1.193). The glass pendants in this necklace display one of the most complex designs made by the Mycenaean craftsmen: a tapering rectangular form with a rouletted motif. This distinctive style of glass beads and pendants disappeared when the Mycenaean civilization ended.

Place Made

Greece

Physical DescriptionNecklace with Pendants and Beads. (a) Translucent deep blue and aquamarine glass; mold pressed with multiple suspension holes. Fifteen large beads roughly rectangular in shape taper from top to bottom, flat on back, a series of three horizontal reels, the largest at the top, the smallest at the bottom with a truncated pyramidal spike projecting out (perpendicular to the surface of the bead) to the left of each reel, the relief bands which highlight the sides and center of the smallest reel continue down the face of the bead, the lower left side is decorated with a rouletted pattern which connects the smallest spike with the horizontal bar created by a series of relief dots. The tip of the bead is defined by this bar and narrow reel. Between these two horizontal bars is a circular depression with two suspension holes pierced along the axis of the bead; into this depression was placed a small rosette of blue glass with eight petals and a convex hemispherical center. This rosette is preserved on one bead. The back of the bead appears to have been re-cut at the top reel which has been beveled to make the suspension hole area smaller; there is a small pierced hole through the largest spike at its tip, the hole runs parallel to the length of the bead; the third spike is pierced with a small suspension hole which runs parallel to the length of the small reel or perpendicular to the length of the bead. (b) Sixteen blue-green faience beads with tan weathering; mold pressed; elongated barrel-shaped with irregular horizontal ribbing over entire surface.
Provenance

Provenance Remark

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