A BYZANTINE GOLD AND GARNET SPHERICAL BEAD

CIRCA 8TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A BYZANTINE GOLD AND GARNET SPHERICAL BEAD
CIRCA 8TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.
Composed of gold sheet cut out to form an openwork design embellished by filigree and granulation, including eight circles with a cruciform motif adorned by filigree rope wires and granules, each encircled by filigree rope wires, with four square flat garnets bezel set over gold foil, arranged horizontally between the circles, the upper and lower ends each with four triangles of granules around smaller openwork circles encircled by triple twisted wires
11/16 in. (1.7 cm.) diameter

Provenance

European Private Collection, acquired in the 1980s.

Lot Essay

For the type, strung on a necklace with other openwork beads of similar date, see no. 90, pp. 300-301 in Rudolph, A Golden Legacy, Ancient Jewelry from the Burton Y. Berry Collection at the Indiana University Art Museum.

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