A Necklace of Ancient Persian Faience, Ancient Carnelian, and African Brass Aja Beads
This 28" necklace is made of ancient faience beads and ancient carnelian, assembled with African brass Aja beads.
There is some uncertainty about the nature of the faience beads. Purchased at an auction as ancient Egyptian faience, nevertheless, these beads appear to be of later production, according to expert opinion, they likely come from Persia and date somewhere between the second and 6th centuries AD. The beads show they age - on many beads the glaze is almost gone, but they retain the beauty only enhanced by age and wear. Most of the faience beads are light blue, some melon-shaped; a few beads are different shades of beige, and one is of rare purple color, with remnants of blue glaze on top.
Most of the carnelian beads are ancient, excavated in Sahara, and are believed to date over 1000 years back. But several beads appear to be of a later production and are probably antique. The difference can be told by looking at the perforations.
The Aja brass spacer beads complement this necklace and protect the ancient beads from too close contact.
The largest faience bead is 22x17mm, the smallest 15x12mm; carnelian beads range from 20 to 13mm in diameter and 4 to 10 mm in width. The Aja brass spacers are 10mm in diameter and about 2mm wide.
This necklace is designed without a clasp.
