A large Islamic Glass Eye Bead with trails, ca. 12th - 14th century CE

This large glass cylindrical bead of translucent dark green, that appears opaque black, is rod formed with a large perforation. The bead features two crossing white trails that appear in a zigzag pattern. Cane eyes of red and white stripes with a circular center of white and black are irregularly placed inside the squares and triangles formed by the trails.

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. 98 #129-132. The authors note all examples were probably acquired together and the "type has been found in Syria and Iran and very probably in most of the Islamic world. It was also found in Sarkel-Belaia Bezha and Novgorod in Russia in Medieval contexts."

Condition: Some age-appropriate wear, with minor chipping but otherwise intact and in very good condition overall.

Dimensions: Length: 3/4 inch (1.9 cm), Width: 3/4 inch (1.9 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 art director Harold Stern described in 1957 as "without doubt one of the finest private collections in the world". 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, including this object, was inherited by descent in 2016.