Bead (Spindle Whorl)

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Bead (Spindle Whorl)

Place of OriginLikely Germany, reportedly from Bingen

Date6th - 7th century CE

DimensionsDiam: 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm)

MediumTooled glass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Gawain McKinley

Object number

1977.20

Not on View

DescriptionA large, discoid glass bead with a pear-shaped profile and a slightly concave base. The glass matrix appears opaque black but is likely a dense, dark green. It is decorated with an opaque, moderate yellow-green thread that has been trailed onto the surface and "combed" (dragged) to create a quadruple feather or festoon pattern (Zickzackmuster). The central perforation is cylindrical and drilled or tooled.

Label TextThis object belongs to a group of glass vessels and ornaments reportedly found in a single Frankish grave at Bingen, a settlement along the Rhine west of Mainz. The group includes two palm cups (1977.11, 1983.86), a gaming piece (1981.56), and two beads (1977.20, 1981.55). In the sixth and seventh centuries this region formed part of the Merovingian kingdoms, whose elite communities buried their dead with ornaments and vessels that marked identity, status, and regional taste.Published ReferencesGrose, David F., "Ancient Glass," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 20, no. 3, 1978, p. 89, repr. fig. 32.

Effros, Bonnie, "Art of the 'Dark Ages': Showing Merovingian Artifacts in North American Public and Private Collections," JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF COLLECTIONS, vol. 17, no. 1, 2005, p. 110, no. 100.