Head Bead with Three Human Faces
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for Head Bead with Three Human Faces
Head Bead with Three Human Faces
Place of OriginLikely Syria, Lebanon, or Israel/Palestine
Date6th through 5th century BCE
DimensionsDiam: 1 in. (2.5 cm)
MediumRod-formed; tooled and applied features and blobs.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1976.55
Not on View
DescriptionLarge bead with the likenesses of three human faces. Opaque turquoise-blue ground with one face each in opaque white, opaque yellow, and dark blue; each nose is in the color of the face; eyes on all faces are uniformly opaque white outlined in dark blue with dark blue centers; mouths are opaque white (but opaque yellow on the white face); ears also appear in the same color as the face and have opaque yellow or opaque white earrings. The opaque yellow face has well-defined dark blue eyebrows. Above, below, and between the faces are randomly applied spherical blobs of opaque white or opaque yellow. Cylindrical with a wide longitudinal threadhole.
Label TextThese intricate glass pendants, produced centuries before the invention of glassblowing, demonstrate the skill of Phoenician artisans in the Eastern Mediterranean. Using a technique called rod-forming, glassmakers wound hot threads of colored glass around a metal core to sculpt minute details, such as the beard of a male head or the horns of a ram. The staring eyes and vibrant yellows and blues were not merely decorative; these objects functioned as apotropaic amulets, worn to ward off the "evil eye" and protect the wearer from misfortune. This specific group (1923.354A-S, 1976.54-1976.60) constitutes one of the most significant collections of its kind in the United States. Acquired from the Thomas E. H. Curtis collection, these pendants were identified by scholar Monique Seefried as originating primarily from the Syro-Palestinian coast (modern Lebanon and Israel) rather than Carthage (with the possible exception of 1976.56).Published ReferencesSeefried, Monique, Les pendentifs en verre sur noyau des pays de la Mediterranee antique, Collection de l'Ecole Francaise de Rome, no. 57, Rome, 1982, p. 146, no. F I 10.
Grose, David F., Early Ancient Glass: Core-Formed, Rod-Formed, and Cast Vessels and Objects from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Roman Empire, 1600 B.C. to A.D. 50, New York, Hudson Hills Press in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, 1989, cat. no. 49, p. 90, repr. (col.) p. 71.
Markoe, Glenn, "A nation of artisans," Archaeology, vol. 43, no. 2, Mar/Apr. 1990, p. 32, repr.
6th - 5th century BCE
Late 6th - 3rd century BCE
5th or 4th century BCE
3rd century BCE
Late 6th-3rd century BCE
6th-5th century BCE
3rd century BCE
3rd century BCE
Late 6th through 5th century BCE
3rd century BCE
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