Western Asiatic Glass, and Black stone Beaded Necklace (No Reserve Price)

A lovely restrung necklacc made from fine Western Asiatic beads. The upper half consists of a string of yellow glass tube beads on each side. Half-way down sits a geometric black stone bead between two vibrant turquoise-coloured round beads. The lower half of the string switches to a majority of green glass tubular beads with some yellow and dark blue glass tubular beads, and metal granulated rings, creating a symmetrical decorative pattern. At the centre, three further black stone beads are arranged with two dark blue round beads between them. The necklace is finished with a modern 'S' hook. There are some very small chips to the edges of some beads.

Many grand civilisations inhabited the area of Western Asia in antiquity, and their wealth and prosperity is witnessed by the very sophisticated precious metal crafting of jewellery. Gold would have been hammered down to a thin layer and manipulated into different shapes. Fine granulation, as we can see on this item, along with filigree, were at the centre of Near Eastern and Western Asiatic jewellery production and were later adopted by the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans. Precious and semi-precious stones were also widely used.

Measurements: 46cm full length

Provenance: From the private collection of the late Mr S. M. , London, UK.