Lot 145

Egyptian Faience Beads - One Pound of Loose Tubular & Discoid Forms

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Lot 145
Egyptian Faience Beads - One Pound of Loose Tubular & Discoid Forms

Egyptian Faience Beads - One Pound of Loose Tubular & Discoid Forms

Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500

Current Bid: $500

(1 Bid)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

North Africa, Egypt, Late Dynastic to Roman Period, ca. 664 BCE – 395 CE. A full pound of ancient Egyptian faience beads, tumbled loose in the thousands and glowing across a spectrum of turquoise, sage, powder blue, violet, and pale beige. Two forms predominate: slender cylindrical tube beads and flat discoid ring beads, their self-glazed surfaces softened by burial and time. Faience, a paste of crushed quartz, natron, and copper colorant, was the quintessential Egyptian material, its blue-green sheen prized as an evocation of fertility, rebirth, and the life-giving Nile. Beads such as these were strung into broad collars, netted over mummy wrappings, and worn as amulets by living and dead alike. Mass-produced in temple and household workshops, they surface in vast quantities across cemetery and settlement sites. This substantial lot offers the collector, jeweler, or restringer a wealth of authentic ancient material in a single accumulation. Size of largest bead (roughly): 0.9" L x 0.2" W (2.3 cm L x 0.5 cm W); total weight: 1lb.

Egyptian faience is among the oldest synthetic materials in human history, produced continuously from the Predynastic era into the Roman period. Its characteristic glaze forms through efflorescence or cementation, drawing soluble salts to the surface during drying and firing, so the object glazes itself. The Egyptians called it tjehnet, "that which shines" or "dazzling," associating its luminous blue-green with the sun, water, and regeneration. Funerary bead nets and mummy collars from the Late and Ptolemaic periods used exactly this range of tubular and ring beads, threaded in geometric lattices across the linen-wrapped body.

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.).

PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.

Item # 203422

  • Condition: Expected age wear with some nicks, chips, and small losses to a few beads, but, otherwise, excellent with vibrant pigments. Majority, if not all, are wearable.

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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