Roman Yellow Glass Bead Necklace String

Piriform in profile with a narrow neck and flared mouth with a chamfered rim, dimple base. 945 grams, 29.5 cm high



From the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès private collection. with Artcurial, Paris, 25 March 2014, no.39. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12959-245241.

On ancient glass, iridescence is the soft play of colour that develops as the surface ages and becomes silica-rich. Minute layers form over time and break light into shifting blues, greens and golds. It is not a modern finish but something time has drawn out of the material itself, so the pattern and palette are unique to each piece. Collectors prize good, stable iridescence because it lifts the form: ribs read more crisply, profiles glow, and simple vessels take on depth and movement. Museums now tend to preserve these surfaces rather than polish them away, recognising both their beauty and what they tell us about an object’s long life (though it is not, by itself, a dating test). For display, iridescent glass performs brilliantly under gentle, directional light, where the colours “turn” as the vessel is moved. Well-preserved, even iridescence of this quality is not common and adds materially to the presence and desirability of the piece.

Wide bow with punched annulet decoration, short footplate with a knop finial. 28 grams, 72 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

With intaglio profile bust of the god Bacchus facing left; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 1.41 grams, 12 mm



Private English collection, formed between the late 1970s and early 1990s. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12952-246460.

During and after the Alexandrine period, the character of Greek gems changed considerably: the type of figure became softer and more feminine in beauty, Homeric scenes were no longer represented, and deities such as Apollo, Aphrodite or Dionysus, with subjects relating to the theatre or musical contests, became the favourite motifs for representation.