Bead
Brooklyn Museum Object Description
This pair of glass beads was made during an early period of highly inventive glass bead making in China from the fifth to third centuries b.c. The raised-eye motifs show the influence of beads that had been made in Egypt, India, and western Asia since the third millennium b.c. as protection against the “evil eye.” These beads have an earthenware core, to which drops of glass paste were applied to create the multilayered eyes. No evidence shows that Chinese eye beads were believed to have protective qualities; most likely they were made for personal adornment.
This pair of glass beads was made during an early period of highly inventive glass bead making in China from the fifth to third centuries b.c. The raised-eye motifs show the influence of beads that had been made in Egypt, India, and western Asia since the third millennium b.c. as protection against the “evil eye.” These beads have an earthenware core, to which drops of glass paste were applied to create the multilayered eyes. No evidence shows that Chinese eye beads were believed to have protective qualities; most likely they were made for personal adornment.
| Creator Name | -- |
| Title | Bead |
| Cultural Context | -- |
| Creator | -- |
| Worktype | Jewelry |
| Date | 5th–4th century B.C.E. |
| Cultural Context | -- |
| Source | Brooklyn Museum |
| Material | Earthenware with polychrome decoration |
| Curationist Record | https://www.curationist.org/works/work-bmoa-155232 |
| Dimensions | 1 x 1in. (2.5 x 2.5cm) |
| Technique | -- |
| Language | -- |
| Date | 5th–4th century B.C.E. |
| Provenance | Gift of Giselle Croes, Jun 20, 1996 |
| Style Period | -- |
| Rights | Creative Commons-BY |
| Inscription | -- |
| Location | China |
| Source | Brooklyn Museum |
| Subjects | -- |
| Topic | -- |
| Related Content | -- |