Condition
Small part missing
Description
The upper and lower parts of the bead are made of green glass. There is no base mass, and the back side of the mosaic sections is visible. The two bands are applied onto this surface. In the thread hole, it can be seen that there is a multicolored banded mass behind the central band of the florets; quite probably this is the distorted back side of the mosaic sections. What is visible, though, are alternating fine rows of red and blue. There are three Medusa heads with short, sleek hair all around the face. They are set in a fine round white frame, set in a larger, square blue field. The additional plaques are three square tiles. In each one are set, in a translucent dark blue field, two yellow, one green, and one red triangles, all facing toward the center.
Comments and Comparanda
On mosaic face beads, see comments on cat. 534 and 535. For provenance, bibliography, and exhibitions, see group entry, cat. 534.