Lobed Bead with Inlays

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Lobed Bead with Inlays

Place of OriginLikely Germany, reportedly from Bingen

Date6th- 7th century CE

DimensionsH: 3/4 in. (1.9 cm); W: 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)

MediumGlass; mold-pressed.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Dr. Richard H. Edmondson

Object number

1981.55

Not on View

DescriptionA large glass bead measuring approximately 1.9 cm in height and 3.2 cm in width. The body is composed of green glass formed into a lobed or "melon" shape. The surface is decorated with inlaid "blobs" of yellow glass (polychrome inserts). Early accession documents originally described this technique as "enamelled decoration."

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 ReferencesEffros, 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.