Lot 280A

Egyptian Faience Bead Strands - Late Dynastic Mummy Beads

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Lot 280
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Egyptian Faience Bead Strands - Late Dynastic Mummy Beads
Egyptian Faience Bead Strands - Late Dynastic Mummy Beads
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Egyptian Faience Bead Strands - Late Dynastic Mummy Beads

Estimate: $800 - $1,200
by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT (In Progress)
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

North Africa, Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, ca. 664–332 BCE. A cascade of minute disc beads in faience, their glaze softened by millennia into a muted palette of celadon green, ochre, russet, and pale buff. Each bead is a tiny wheel, drilled at the center and worn smooth, the kind mass-produced in their thousands to net the wrapped bodies of the dead or to ornament funerary garments and broad collars. Restrung here across six modern strands, the ancient beads regain their original logic of repetition and rhythm, ready to be fitted with clasps and worn anew. Faience, a self-glazing quartz paste, was prized less for its humble ingredients than for its luminous color, which the Egyptians associated with rebirth, fertility, and the verdant promise of regeneration. The longest strand stretches to nearly a yard, a humble survival of an industry that adorned both temple and tomb. Size of beads (roughly): 0.1" W x 0.2" H (0.3 cm W x 0.5 cm H); of longest strand: 35.5" L (90.2 cm L).

Egyptian faience, despite its name, contains no clay: it is a ground quartz or sand paste coated with an alkaline glaze that vitrifies during firing, producing the characteristic blue-green sheen. The Egyptians called it tjehenet, "that which is brilliant" or "dazzling," linking its color to the sun, to water, and to the renewal of life. Small disc beads of this type were produced industrially in the millions and most famously fashioned into bead nets draped over mummies, where their color carried a protective, regenerative charge into the afterlife.

Provenance: Collection of Y. Kayvan, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired from a Los Angeles, California, USA gallery acquisition dates range from the late 1990s to 2005

SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).

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Item # 203426

  • Condition: Excellent. Ancient beads strung on modern strands to be wearable when fit with clasps. Some nicks and abrasions to beads, but, otherwise, most are intact and all are very nice with vibrant pigments.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000