Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Style: New Kingdom Medium: Faience Most Ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a  More »

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Style: New Kingdom 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, such 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 Egyptian Kingdom. In the art of Ancient Egypt, we see lovely women adorned with such jewels. To wear these beads today is to follow in the royal tradition of Nefertiti and Cleopatra. - (FJ.4694)   « Less

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Style: New Kingdom Medium: Faience Most Ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a  More »

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Style: New Kingdom 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, such 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 Egyptian Kingdom. In the art of Ancient Egypt, we see lovely women adorned with such jewels. To wear these beads today is to follow in the royal tradition of Nefertiti and Cleopatra. - (FJ.4695)   « Less

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Style: New Kingdom Medium: Faience Most Ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a  More »

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Style: New Kingdom 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, such 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 Egyptian Kingdom. In the art of Ancient Egypt, we see lovely women adorned with such jewels. To wear these beads today is to follow in the royal tradition of Nefertiti and Cleopatra. - (FJ.4696)   « Less

Faience Bead Necklace - FJ.4709 Medium: Faience

Faience Bead Necklace - FJ.4709 Medium: Faience   « Less

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, such 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 Egyptian Kingdom. In the art of Ancient Egypt, we see lovely women adorned with such jewels. To wear these beads today is to follow in the royal tradition of Nefertiti, Tutankhamen and Cleopatra. - (FJ.4726)   « Less

Egyptian Faience and Natural Baltic Amber Bead Necklace - FJ.5423 Origin: Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience/Amber

Egyptian Faience and Natural Baltic Amber Bead Necklace - FJ.5423 Origin: Egypt Circa: 1600 BC to 1100 BC Collection: Egyptian Medium: Faience/Amber   « Less

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1900 BC to 1300 BC Medium: Faience Most Ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which was introduced as early as  More »

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1900 BC to 1300 BC 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, such 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 Egyptian Kingdom. - (SB.0095)   « Less

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1900 BC to 1300 BC Medium: Faience Most Ancient Egyptian beads were made of faience, a glass-composite glaze which was introduced as early as  More »

Origin: Sinai, Egypt Circa: 1900 BC to 1300 BC 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, such 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 Egyptian Kingdom. - (SB.0124)   « Less

Origin: Egypt Circa: 1900 BC to 1300 BC Medium: Faience/Garnet Necklace composed of genuine Egyptian faience beads from the Middle and New Kingdoms and genuine garnet  More »

Origin: Egypt Circa: 1900 BC to 1300 BC Medium: Faience/Garnet Necklace composed of genuine Egyptian faience beads from the Middle and New Kingdoms and genuine garnet beads from the Roman and Byzantine periods. The love of ornament is as old as civilization itself. By wearing jewelry that is unusual or unique, we define ourselves as individuals and set ourselves apart from the crowd. Throughout antiquity, in every great culture, beads were formed from colored gems, glass, ceramic, shell, bone and metal in an endless variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes they were worn for their magical or curative powers, at other times simply for their beauty. They were worn by people, highborn and low, the citizen of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Judea, Greece, Rome and Byzantium. Frequently these jewels, so prized in life, were buried with their owners to adorn them through eternity. When we wear them today, we add another chapter to their long and fascinating history. - (SB.0136)   « 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. - (SP.313)   « Less