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COLLECTIONS |
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ABOUT OUR COLLECTIONS |
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a chronology of periods
MESOPOTAMIAN
(regional) |
The Mesopotamian category encompasses beads and
artifacts made at ca. 3000 BCE, used by the people
living in Sumer, Akkadia, and Ur (present-day Iraq),
many of which beads were manufactured in the Indus
Valley at Harappa. This production included beads of
shell, bone, bronze, silver, and gold, and various
stones including remarkable banded and decorated
agates. The beginning of our bead story is here, and in either Mesopotamia or Egypt, over 4,000 years ago, an amazing forerunner to glass was invented called "faience."
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EGYPTIAN
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Egyptian art and artifacts come to us from as early as the third millennium BCE, through historic and recent times. Thus, when looking for Egyptian beads, they may be included in almost any time division-though the Roman and Islamic Periods may have the more desirable types |
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PHOENICIAN
700 BC - 2 BC |
The Phoenicians, living along the Eastern
Mediterranean (present-day Lebanon), were the
significant producers and sellers of glass beads from
ca. 700 BCE through the pre-Roman periods. Their
glass beads were traded as far away as England and
China, and from Germany to North Africa. They are
characterized by simple shapes and decorations, the
use of stratified eyes, raised bumps, and simple
twisted threads; and they are especially known for
making dramatic head pendants and beads, that must
have been used for status and ritual purposes.
The designation Phoenician includes many beads that
were actually made in Egypt, though acquired and
traded by the Phoenicians. Such beads are more
similar than different from Middle Eastern products,
and virtually no one can authoritatively distinguish
one maker from another.
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HELLENISTIC
353 BC - 35 BC |
In the fourth century BCE, at the time Alexander the
Great conquered the world, Greek culture was exported
and established, and became the world standard for
high culture. It was under these conditions that
remarkable progress was made in the manufacture of
glass beads. In particular, the mosaic-glass
practices that resulted in millefiori wares, and other
beads that resembled highly stylized variegated
stones. In terms of glass-bead making, a principal place of
manufacture was at Alexandria in Egypt; and thus, many
"Roman" beads are actually Egyptian, made by hands
that were skilled in Greek traditions.
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ROMAN
200 BC to
(broadly) 500 AD |
The Roman Empire thrived from about 200 BCE to
(broadly) CE 500. Roman beads were largely made by exploited local
artisans, who continued to ply the trades and crafts
of previous eras. Imperial Rome facilitated the production of legions of artists,
moved these goods around the known world, and left a
legacy that today has considerable cachet. Included
are remarkable mosaic-glass products, particularly
delicate beads with faces and other pictorial images,
and fine gold work often set with stones.
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BYZANTINE
about AD 200 to 600 |
The designation of "Byzantine" is a convenience for
beads that fall between the Roman and Islamic
Periods spanning about CE 200 to 600. In other words,
we could call these "post-Roman" and "pre-Islamic"
beads, but that doesn't have the cache of the name
Byzantine. The products manufactured throughout the
Middle East during Roman times continued production,
and manufacturers and sellers prospered. A few beads
are particular to this time; but, over all, many beads
may not stand apart enough to warrant a sense of what
exact period they belong to, so we place them here in
an effort to be as careful as possible.
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ISLAMIC
AD 600-1400 |
Until about twenty years ago, the significance of
products, especially glass beads made during the
Islamic Period, or just before it, was not
appreciated. Collectors and sellers alike generally
designated these things to be "Roman." Nevertheless,
the Romans were circumstantial, and whether they were
present or not, the beads would have been made. In
the Islamic Period, copious numbers of beads were
manufactured and exported, eventually being used by
people as far west as England, and to China in the
East; by Africans; by Northern Scandinavians, and by
the Indonesians of Island Southeast Asia. Some of
these products are distinct from "Roman" beads, and
include such types as the beautiful folded glass
beads, never seen before this time. The Islamic
Period, in terms of ancient bead production, virtually
ended with the fall of Damascus in the early 15th
century. After this time, Venice entered the picture,
creating and exporting what we typically call the
trade beads of modern times.
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