An Egyptian Blue Composition Bead Necklace, Late Period, ca 664 - 332 BCE
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This necklace is composed of graduated faience beads centered by a series of mould-made ribbed pendants in the form of small amphorae. Suspended along the lower arc of the strand, the pendants display a range of glaze tones from pale turquoise and sky blue to deeper cobalt and greenish hues, reflecting the characteristic color variation produced during the firing of Egyptian faience. The ribbed pendants are interspersed with smaller disc and spherical spacer beads, creating a rhythmic arrangement that emphasizes the pendant cluster across the front of the necklace.
Amphora-shaped pendants appear in Egyptian beadwork from the Late Period onward and likely referenced vessels associated with offerings of oil, perfume, or wine. Such miniature vessel forms were common in personal adornment and amuletic jewelry, where their symbolic association with abundance and ritual provision may have carried protective or auspicious meaning. The vivid blue coloration derives from the copper compounds used in the glaze, producing the distinctive turquoise tone that made faience one of the most recognizable materials in Egyptian ornament.
Medium: Egyptian Blue
Dimensions: Necklace length: 17 inches (43 cm)
Condition: Minor surface wear, glaze loss, and encrustation consistent with age. Modern restringing. Overall well preserved with strong color variation across the pendants.
Provenance: The Hauge Collection of Ancient & Iranian Art, assembled between 1962 and 1966. Victor and Osborne Hauge, foreign service officers, together with their wives Takako and Gratia, formed a wide-ranging collection of Asian and Near Eastern works while stationed abroad after the Second World War. The collection was assembled in consultation with scholars and dealers and was described by former Freer Gallery director Harold Stern as “without doubt one of the finest private collections in the world.” Portions of the collection were exhibited and published in connection with Folk Traditions in Japanese Art (1978) and later donated to the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. The remaining works, including this necklace, passed by descent in 2016.
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