Ancient Rectangular Lapis Lazuli Beads with Granulated Silver Spacer Beads

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About the Item

Forty-seven ancient corner-less cube lapis lazuli beads alternating with two layer granulated silver ring beads. The beads graduate in size from the front to the back of the necklace. The center bead is 1.2 cm in length, 1.32 mm in width and 9 mm and 9 mm in thickness. It has a drill hole diameter of 3.2 mm. The smallest lapis bead is just 7 mm in length and 5 mm in width. The beads about half way back are around 6 mm in length and 5 mm in width. The drill hole diameters are around 2 mm. The beads are not strictly speaking actually cubes but rather rectangular solids. The name “corner-less cubes” is what we use to describe the faceting technique of removing the corners to produce a bead with twelve planes. The silver beads are made in three sizes in order to follow the decreasing sizes of the lapis beads. Each bead is composed of two layers of six grains in a hexagonal pattern. The lapis beads come from the Swat Valley area in northern Pakistan and are around two thousand years old. They show wear from long use and were obviously worn continuously by their owners and passed down through generations. Lapis lazuli is a fairly soft mineral and was made into beads from Neolithic times, since it can be drilled fairly easily with flint of chert bits. It had the property of being self polishing, as wearing the beads improved their luster. This, in addition to the symbolic meaning of the blue color, added to their allure as a desirable material. Indeed, lapis lazuli was traded out of the Silk Road for thousands of years. Egyptian pharaohs worn them in their ornaments and lapis lazuli was especially prized by the Mesopotamian civilizations as well as by the Persians. Lapis is composed of Lazurite and milky white calcite and other minerals. Sometimes it contains iron pyrite which sparkles like gold and which suggests that gold and lapis are a divinely inspired combination. The combination of the constituents is nearly infinite resulting in a great variation in color and pattern as the calcite can also take on color from other minerals. It can speckle or mottle or form zones in the various shades of blue. A custom made hook and eye clasp has been made for the necklace in addition to the forty-seven double layered silver spacer beads. The necklace is 21 and 7/8 inches (55.6 cm) in length. The necklace weighs 52 grams.

Creator:
David Ebbinghouse
Metal:
Silver
Stone:
Lapis Lazuli
Stone Cut:
Bead
Weight:
52 g
Dimensions:
Length: 21.89 in (556 mm)
Style:
Artist
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
15th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
Unknown
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. The lapis lazuli beads used in this piece are all ancient. The silverwork is modern and was done by our expert gold/silversmith, Michael Winsten, to enhance the beauty of the ancient stone beads.
Seller Location:
Bloomington, IN
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU2425216102812

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