Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which was  More »

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which was introduced as early as the pre-Dynastic period. According to Egyptologists, most beads were made on an axis, probably of thread, which would burn up during firing, leaving a hole. Disc, ring and tubular beads were made by coating the axis with the unfired body-paste, rolling the cylinder to an even diameter on a flat surface, and then scoring it with a knife into sections of the desired length. Other shapes, such as ball beads, were rolled between the hands and perforated while still wet with a stiff point such as a wire needle. The beads were then dried, coated with glaze (if the glaze had not already been mixed with the paste), and fired. The firing process often gave the beads a beautiful translucent quality. The majority of faience beads are blue or green in color, but black, red, yellow and white ones were also produced, especially in the New Kingdom. - (FJ.2755)   « Less

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: faience/gold Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which  More »

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: faience/gold Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which was introduced as early as the pre-Dynastic period. According to Egyptologists, most beads were made on an axis, probably of thread, which would burn up during firing, leaving a hole. Disc, ring and tubular beads were made by coating the axis with the unfired body-paste, rolling the cylinder to an even diameter on a flat surface, and then scoring it with a knife into sections of the desired length. Other shapes, such as ball beads, were rolled between the hands and perforated while still wet with a stiff point such as a wire needle. The beads were then dried, coated with glaze (if the glaze had not already been mixed with the paste), and fired. The firing process often gave the beads a beautiful translucent quality. The majority of faience beads are blue or green in color, but black, red, yellow and white ones were also produced, especially in the New Kingdom. - (FJ.2835)   « Less

In our age of David and Solomon, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its  More »

In our age of David and Solomon, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel's graceful unadorned shape appeals as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, conncect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, the centuries melt away and the imagination sets out on a journey of discovery. - (PF.1513)   « Less

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: faience/gold Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which  More »

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: faience/gold Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which was introduced as early as the pre-Dynastic period. According to Egyptologists, most beads were made on an axis, probably of thread, which would burn up during firing, leaving a hole. Disc, ring and tubular beads were made by coating the axis with the unfired body-paste, rolling the cylinder to an even diameter on a flat surface, and then scoring it with a knife into sections of the desired length. Other shapes, such as ball beads, were rolled between the hands and perforated while still wet with a stiff point such as a wire needle. The beads were then dried, coated with glaze (if the glaze had not already been mixed with the paste), and fired. The firing process often gave the beads a beautiful translucent quality. The majority of faience beads are blue or green in color, but black, red, yellow and white ones were also produced, especially in the New Kingdom. - (FJ.2836)   « Less

In Biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty,  More »

In Biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel's graceful unadorned shape appeals as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, connect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, the centuries melt away and the imagination sets out on a journey of discovery. - (PF.1514)   « Less

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience/Gold Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which  More »

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience/Gold Most ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which was introduced as early as the pre-Dynastic period. According to Egyptologists, most beads were made on an axis, probably of thread, which would burn up during firing, leaving a hole. Disc, ring and tubular beads were made by coating the axis with the unfired body-paste, rolling the cylinder to an even diameter on a flat surface, and then scoring it with a knife into sections of the desired length. Other shapes, such as ball beads, were rolled between the hands and perforated while still wet with a stiff point such as a wire needle. The beads were then dried, coated with glaze (if the glaze had not already been mixed with the paste), and fired. The firing process often gave the beads a beautiful translucent quality. The majority of faience beads are blue or green in color, but black, red, yellow and white ones were also produced, especially in the New Kingdom. - (FJ.2837)   « Less

In the Israel of biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its  More »

In the Israel of biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel's graceful unadorned shape appeals as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, connect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, the centuries melt away and the imagination sets out on a journey of discovery. - (PF.1547)   « Less

In the Israel of Biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its  More »

In the Israel of Biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel's graceful unadorned shape appeals as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, connect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, the centuries melt away and the imagination sets out on a journey of discovery. - (PF.1548)   « Less

In the Israel of Biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its  More »

In the Israel of Biblical times, this vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. As we hold it in our hands today, admiring its simple beauty, we are aware of the touch of other hands long ago. Who might have held it when it was new? Were the dreams and emotions that guided their lives so very different from our own? The vessel's graceful unadorned shape appeals as much to the contemporary eye as it did to the culture that created it. Such artifacts, ordinary enough in their own age, connect us in an intimate way with the world of the past. In its presence, the centuries melt away and the imagination sets out on a journey of discovery. - (PF.1549)   « Less

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience-Amber This unusual necklace brings together amber and faience, two of the ornaments  More »

Origin: Egypt (Sinai) Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience-Amber This unusual necklace brings together amber and faience, two of the ornaments most prized by the ancients. Faience, a glass composite glaze, was introduced in Egypt as early as the Pre-Dynastic period. Beads of various sizes and shapes were formed from clay, coated with faience paste and then fired to bright colors. The majority of beads were in shades of blue or green, but red, yellow and black were also popular. In the art of Egypt’s Golden Age, beautiful women are shown adorned with strand after strand of faience beads. Very often, such jewelry was buried in tombs to bring pleasure through eternity. In this lovely necklace, the beads certainly fulfill their promise. Amber, the fossilized resin of extinct trees, is one of the oldest gems known to mankind. Its use as an amulet or for jewelry stretches back to the Stone Age. It was traded throughout the ancient world along routes that led from the north to the palaces of Crete, Egypt and Babylon. Homer mentions amber in the Odyssey. In color, amber varies in hue from pale yellow, to honey brown, to deep orange, to red. Combined here with Egyptian Faience, Amber helps create a Jewel that the Queen of Sheba, Nefertite or Helen of Troy might have worn with pride. - (FJ.3868)   « Less