Glass face bead

Unknown

end of 5th–mid-2nd century BCE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Semi-opaque turquoise blue, with additions in opaque white and yellow and translucent blue. Cylindrical, with rounded edge at both ends; large hole running vertically through bead. Three faces, two in yellow, one in white, each made from a large added blob, augmented with applied nose, stratified eyes, eyebrows, ears, and mouth, flanked above and below by two rows of knobs in white and yellow. Broken and repaired, with some areas of fill, obscuring most of white face, and a few knobs missing or damaged; some pitting and iridescent weathering on exterior, enamel-like creamy weathering on interior of hole.

Artist

Unknown

Date

end of 5th–mid-2nd century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Phoenician or Carthaginian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917