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Details
LOT 0805
Roman Blue Glass Bead Necklace String
1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D. AND LATER
15 in. (11.9 grams, 38.2 cm).
Composed of mainly oblate and annular beads; restrung to a Y-shape. [No Reserve]
Provenance
From the London, UK, 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.
Literature
Cf. for similar necklaces in blue glass Johns, C., The Jewellery of Roman Britain, Celtic and Classical Traditions, London, 1996, p.100.
Footnotes
Such necklaces testify to the popularity of glass ornaments across the Roman Empire. Roman jewellery at first followed trends set by the Etruscans, using gold and glass beads, but with the extension of the Empire and the adoption of different styles from Greece, Egypt and North Africa, jewellery designs became increasingly various and elaborate. Each bead of this beautiful necklace is unique in shape, lustre and speckling, creating a mosaic like impression. Blue glass beads are distinguished by the scholars in opaque mid-blue and deep translucent cobalt blue.
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