Ancient Roman or Islamic Beads from the African Trade, Set of 2
SKU: AFE-1410
Sale price
$45.00
Shipping calculated at checkout
Only 1 in stock
Description
- These beads are priced and sold by the set of 2
- Two ancient Roman, or Islamic, glass beads of the type that used to be found on strands of trade beads in the 1960s. Blue or Black base with white eye designs.
- Round bead 11x13mm
- The eye design has been a perennial favorite through the ages. I think these beads represent two different techniques from different eras. The round bead is clearly lampworked, while the other looks like an early composite mosaic
- Roman glass dates from 1st to 5th century AD, while Islamic glass is from 7th to 15th century AD, at which time the Venetians began dominating the bead trade.
- Rome ruled the coast of North Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic ocean from about 150 BC until about 500 AD so it's not surprising that a few Roman beads would be mixed into the early strands of Venetian trade beads, the first of which came to the US from Morocco in the 1960s.
- Not long after the Romans decamped from northern Africa, Islam began streaming across the Sahara with traders and warriors who also carried the faith, and beads.