CIRCA LATE 3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.

Details

A BACTRIAN STONE AND SHELL BEAD NECKLACE
CIRCA LATE 3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
Strung in three strands, centered by a chlorite compartmental rosette bead, inlaid with lapis lazuli and carnelian, the strands arranged with alternating black and white spacers, interspersed with banded agate and lapis lazuli tabloids, and shell barrels, joined by triple strand silver spacers, the center with two quatrefoil compartmental beads inlaid with lapis lazuli, calcite, carnelian and copper, with triangular shell terminals
Hanging: 14 5/8 in. (37.1 cm.) long

Provenance

with Nefer Galerie, Zurich, late 1970s-early 1980s.

Literature

G. Ligabue and S. Salvatori, eds., Bactria, an Ancient Oasis Civilization from the Sands of Afghanistan, Venice, 1985, fig. 65.
G. Ligabue and G. Rossi-Osmida, et al., Sulla Via delle Oasi, Tesori dell'Oriente Antico, Trebaseleghe, 2007, p. 199.

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Lot Essay

According to Amiet (p. 135 in Ligabue and Salvatori, eds., op. cit.), chlorite compartmental beads, such as the centerpieces in the present example, were part of the Intercultural style of the late 3rd millennium B.C. and were thought to be the antecedents for Bactrian copper compartmental seals.

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