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Ball Bead

A work made of faience.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of faience.

Date:

Middle Kingdom–New Kingdom (about 2055–1069 BCE)

Artist:

Egyptian

About this artwork

Ancient Egyptians presented ball beads as votive gifts to the goddess Hathor, who was associated with beauty. In other contexts, these spherical beads could be strung on necklaces singly or in sets, or worn as hair ornaments. The hollow beads are made from Egyptian faience, a ceramic composed of quartz, an alkali, lime, and a colorant. In this example, painted black stripes accentuate the vibrant blue hue that was created by adding ground copper to the faience.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Africa

Artist

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Ball Bead

Place

Egypt (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 2055 BCE–1069 BCE

Medium

Faience

Dimensions

3.2 × 3.1 × 3 cm (1 5/16 × 1 1/4 × 1 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson

Reference Number

1894.611

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/135173/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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