Condition
Small areas missing
Description
The upper and lower parts of the bead are made of blue glass. There is no base mass, and the back side of the mosaic sections is visible. The two bands are applied onto this surface. Inside the thread hole, it can be seen that the back side of the mosaic sections slid toward the upper opening of the hole and was covered by the single-colored band. There are three female busts with long hair and necklaces, set in green outlines. The additional plaques are checkerboard: four rows of red lozenges at the center, flanked on either side by a white, a yellow, and another white row of lozenges, which are framed by a row of red triangular tesserae pointing toward the interior of the plaque.
Comments and Comparanda
On mosaic face beads, see comments on cat. 534 and 535. For provenance, bibliography, and exhibitions, see group entry, cat. 534.