509. Spacer-Bead

Accession Number 2003.214.1
Dimensions L. 4.2, W. 1.8, Th. 1.0 cm
Date 1400–1200 BCE (LH IIIA–LH IIIB)
Production Area Aegean region
Material Translucent dark blue glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Mold pressed in an open mold
View in Collection

Condition

Partly preserved.

Description

Vertical rectangular panel tapering toward the base; uneven, flat back; straight sides (top and bottom missing); a large hole running horizontally through volute at bottom; one hole on the preserved upper part. Molded decoration on front: a series of two volutes appear on the preserved fragment; the entire bead quite probably comprised three volutes, each with a truncated pyramidal spike projecting out at left; three pairs of wavy lines in relief run vertically down the reels, with probably six finer lines between spikes on left.

Comments and Comparanda

On Mycenaean beads, see cat. 526. For direct comparanda, see cat. 532.

Provenance

By 1974–1988, Erwin Oppenländer, 1901–1988 (Waiblingen, Germany), by inheritance to his son, Gert Oppenländer, 1988; 1988–2003, Gert Oppenländer (Waiblingen, Germany), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003

Bibliography

, pp. 91–92, no. 240; p. 91, plate no. 240.

, pp. 16–17, 22–23, fig. 11.

, pp. 32–33, 36, 48, fig. 12, color plate 7.

Exhibitions

Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (Malibu, 2006; 2007)

Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)