Details

LOT 0310

Large Indus Valley Etched Orange Carnelian Necklace Bead Collection

CIRCA 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.

1/4 - 1 7/8 in. (61.03 grams total, 9.84-49.06 mm).

Comprising: a barrel-shaped bead with floral decoration, two flattened barrel-shaped beads with geometric motifs, one discoid bead with crux gammata, and other beads with geometric decoration. [13, No Reserve]

Provenance

From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.

Literature

Cf. Nandagopal, P., ‘Decorated Carnelian Beads from the Indus Civilization Site of Dholavira (Great Rann of Kachchha, Gujarat)’ in Frenez, D., Jamison, G.M., Randall, W.L., Vidale, M., Meadow, R.H., Walking with the Unicorn Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia, Oxford, 2018, pp.475-485, figs.3,8,9.

Footnotes

Etched carnelian beads are characteristic of the Indus Valley culture and have been produced since the third millennium B.C. They are a typical product of the Harappa culture, but they are also attested in later millennia and produced elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The oldest specimens come from the Indus Valley and from Mesopotamia. A few specimens were found in the so-called royal cemetery of Ur, where they were identified in the excavation publication as coming from India.