A rare Byzantine trail-decorated Ray Bead, ca. 9th - 14th century CE (?)

This fabulous rod-formed glass bead features a zig-zag of eight protruding ribs around a small basic black bead of conical form. The ribs form the main body of the bead and are highlighted by trails of white, yellow and red glass.

For related examples see: Spaer, M., Barag, D., Ornan, T., & Neuhaus, T. (2001). Ancient glass in the Israel Museum: Beads and other small objects. Jerusalem: Israel Museum, p. 116 #189 - 191

Condition: Some expected minor chipping to the body that does not detract, otherwise intact and in very good condition overall.

Dimensions: Length: 3/4 inch (1.9 cm), Width: 7/8 inch (2.2 cm)

Provenance: The Hauge Collection of Ancient  Art, assembled between 1962 and 1966. Foreign service brothers, Victor and Osborne Hauge, together with their wives Takako and Gratia, assembled their collection of Persian, Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asian works of fine and folk art while stationed overseas with the US government after WWII. In consultation with academics and dealers, the Hauges assembled over two decades of what former Freer Gallery of Art director Harold Stern described in 1957 as "without doubt one of the finest private collections in the world". Victor and Takako published Folk Traditions in Japanese Art to coincide with a traveling exhibition held from 1978 at the Cleveland Museum of Art; Japan House Gallery, New York; and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Much of their collection was donated to the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute culminating in an exhibition and published catalogue in 2000. The balance of the collection, including this object, was inherited by descent in 2016.