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Amazing light green, yellow and white ancient Chinese glass bead from the Warring States era. This bead has a light green core, with an elaborate eye or "flower petal" pattern. The flower petal pattern is comprised of a large flat white circle, with a slightly smaller yellow circle on top of the white area. Attached to the yellow circle are raised white eyes with a small black glass dot on top of the white eye. Chinese Warring States period beads of this color are unusual -- and this is just an excellent specimen.
As you can see from the close up picture, the bead is worn, but there are no missing eye decorations, significant cracks, or other major imperfections. Several of the black eyes are somewhat squished, and the bead has a somewhat "dirty" look, but still just a beautiful bead. The minor crack that is visible in the extreme close up picture is a surface issue, and not a fundamental flaw in the bead. The bead measures 24.3 mm high x 25-26 mm in diameter. Overall, the bead is about the size of a U.S. quarter or a 2 Euro coin. The Warring States Period of ancient China covers the period from 476 B.C. until the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C. Beads from ancient China have a high Barium content and other chemical constituents makes the beads heavier than most glass beads. Of course, dating beads such as these is an inexact science, but this is our best estimate and consistent from what we've heard from other experts. One short note on what I know of the provenance -- this bead was part of a collection owned by a Taiwanese woman, and brought to the U.S. by a reputable dealer after she died. All of the beads in the lot were beautiful specimens. Price: $495.00 |
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