A Necklace of Ancient Glass Beads and Bali Silver
This 20" necklace is made of a combination of ancient Islamic Period beads excavated in West Africa and Indo-Pacific Trade Wind Beads, put together with vintage silver beads and bead caps from Bali.
Coming from two different ends of the world, these glass beads are of approximately the same age, dating to the Islamic period somewhere between the 8th and the 12th centuries AD. The larger African beads are of turquoise color, made of glass paste, likely to imitate the rare turquoise. These beads show their age - some of them show substantial wear, showing their venerable age. These beads vary in shape from almost round to oval and bicone, ranging in size from 28x8 mm to about 10x6mm.
The small Indo-Pacific Trade Wind beads here are also turquoise in color, almost exactly matching the color of the African beads as if made by the same hand. These beads were widely traded across the Pacific since antiquity, and are found in many places, from South-East Asia to The Mediterranean. These beads are about 5mm in diameter.
The sterling silver spacers are of vintage stock, coming from Bali.
The necklace is completed with a vintage sterling silver box clasp matching the texture of the silver beads.
