Literature

Glass beads were manufactured in the Mycenaean region of Greece during the Bronze Age, and there was a thriving production from 1390 to 1180 B.C. To the Mycenaeans, glass was a precious material, and they made distinctive forms of beads, pendants, and appliqués in glass. Threaded as ordinary beads, sewn to cloth or leather, or used in diadems, these objects imitated gold ornaments and were often even made in the same moulds. These moulds produced beads with a relief design on one side only, with the opposite side remaining flat. While many such beads now have extensive weathering that conceals the true colours of the glass, they were usually found in bright blues, as can be seen on the pendants used in this necklace. Motifs for these beads included stylized rosettes, papyrus, and lilies, with these ‘ear’ style decorations the rarest.This distinctive style of glass beads and pendants disappeared when the Mycenaean civilisation ended. For similar see S.M. Goldstein, Pre-Roman and early Roman glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, 1979, p. 95, no. 180. Small groups can also be found in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, acc. no. 77.20.1029 and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu,California, acc. no. 2003.214.