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LOT 0492
Phoenician Glass Bead Collection
6TH-3RD CENTURY B.C. OR LATER
1/2 - 1 5/8 in. (179 grams total, 12-42 mm).
Comprising a group of crumb-decorated polychrome oblate beads and a centrepiece pendant formed as a stylised bearded head. [29]
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf. Lightfoot, C. S., The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Ancient Glass, New York, 2017, pp. 310-328, for discussion and examples of Phoenician glass beads.
FootnotesThe Phoenicians, renowned seafarers and traders, were also skilled glassworkers. They produced a wide variety of glass beads using core-forming and winding techniques, with vivid colours and elaborate designs that reflect both technical mastery and cross-cultural influence. Among the most iconic Phoenician beads are glass 'head' beads, crafted in the form of stylised human or mythological faces. Typically, they feature exaggerated facial details like bulging eyes, large noses, beards, and headdresses, often with expressive or comic features.
They were possibly worn as amulets to ward off evil or attract protection, though they may also represent deities, ancestors, or foreigners.
These beads often incorporate Egyptian, Greek, and Near Eastern stylistic elements, reflecting the Phoenicians’ extensive trade networks.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0492
Phoenician Glass Bead Collection
Estimate £1,200 - 1,700€1,390 - 1,970 (for guidance only)$1,620 - 2,300 (for guidance only)
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Egyptian Cut-Glass Horus Amulet
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
Modelled in the round, a falcon perched on a rectangular base, with a pierced lug between the shoulders. 3.3 grams, 21 mm
UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Falcon amulets in ancient Egypt symbolised protection, kingship, and divine power. Often associated with the god Horus, the falcon represented the sky, the sun, and the living pharaoh. These amulets were typically placed with the deceased to ensure protection in the afterlife and to invoke the strength and watchfulness of Horus. Worn in life or death, falcon amulets reflected royal authority and divine guardianship. -
Phoenician Inscribed Bronze Scaraboid Seal
Late 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
With plain body and three lines of characters including a scarab to the underside. 3.5 grams, 13 mm
Ex London, UK, gentleman, 1990. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Face Mask with Sons of Horus
Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Restrung; a netted beadwork panel of annular and tubular glazed composition beads in blues, greens, black, cream and red-brown colours, depicting a mummy face mask with false beard, a scarab with extended wings below, the 'Four Sons of Horus’ beneath the scarab, joined together with areas of open netting of tubular beads. 145 grams, 32 cm high
Acquired 1990s. Ex Mariaud des Serres, Paris, France. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The 'Four Sons of Horus' protected the internal organs of the deceased. Depicted from left to right: the falcon-headed Qebhesenuef protected the intestines; human-headed Imsety, the liver; baboon-headed Hapi, the lungs; jackal-headed Duamutef, the stomach.
