Glass pendant bead in the shape of a plumbline

Glass pendant bead in the shape of a plumbline

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Uncertain color, appearing opaque black; trail in opaque white. Elongated conical body, expanding downwards; rounded bottom edge; pierced through from top to bottom with a large, regular hole. A single marvered trail wound 20 times round body in a spiral. Intact, but slight chip in narrow (top) end; dulling, severe pitting of surface bubbles, and faint brownish weathering. The date and provenance of this large bead are uncertain, but it may be Etruscan, dating to the 7th century B.C. and used as decoration on a fibula.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Glass pendant bead in the shape of a plumblineGlass pendant bead in the shape of a plumblineGlass pendant bead in the shape of a plumblineGlass pendant bead in the shape of a plumblineGlass pendant bead in the shape of a plumbline

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.