Glass face bead

Unknown

mid-4th–3rd century BCE · Glass · Greek and Roman Art

Translucent dark cobalt blue, with opaque turquoise blue, white, and yellow, and translucent cobalt blue. Cylindrical with large hole running vertically through bead. Three conjoining faces; upper half of face in white, with blue and white stratified eyes, blue eyebrows, white ears flanked above and below with yellow earrings, white nose, small mouth in yellow, and yellow blob on forehead; above, curly blue hair in thick blobs applied over turquoise blue; below, U-shaped blue beard with tooled vertical ribbing applied over turquoise blue. Intact except for one ear and one nose, and with horizontal cracks across faces; slight pitting and weathering. Blue bead with three white bearded faces, and yellow decoration.

Artist

Unknown

Date

mid-4th–3rd century BCE

Medium

Glass

Culture

Phoenician or Carthaginian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917