Gyda's saga: Documentation: Phoenician Glass beads

Phoenician Glass beads as individual tokens

Baroness Ginevra Lucia Di Namoraza

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What?

A selection of handmade glass beads in the Phoenician style to use as individual tokens or to add to other gifts such as pouches or tassels.

1.Beads in Politarchopolis colours for the Baron and Baroness to hand out. 10 in a bag.

2.Beads in Lochac colours for Politarchopolis to give as largesse to Royalty. 10 in a bag

3.Beads in House of Hurts colours- a gift for the personal use of the Baronage. 10 in a bag.

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Where?

The Phoenicians occupied the coast of the Levant - eastern Mediterranean.

When?

4^th- 3^rd century BCE

Why? I have been gifting these to various groups and baronies and most Barons/ Baronesses and Royalty for the last couple of years. When I was Baroness of Polit, I found this sort of thing invaluable, and I am delighted to be able to return the favour. These beads are found and reused in many places, so they are plausible for a variety of personas to wear, as well as unique and intricate enough to be a nice gift on their own. I have included many examples of this.

Details of the extant pieces:

Most of this type of bead have 4-5 large central “eyes”. The eyes fluctuate between 2-5 layers. The smaller dots vary in location and colour but are generally in a couple of layers. Sometimes they contrast, sometimes they match with the eye colours. The glass was often found to be soda-lime-silica natron-based glass. Common colours were blue, white, yellow, turquoise.

Dimensions as an example from the Met Museum glass beads:
Diameter (smallest bead): 3/8 in. (0.9 cm)
Diameter (largest bead): 5/8 in. (1.6 cm)

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Other Examples: Hallstatt period (800–400 BC)- Image 6. Ptolemaic Period- Egypt-(400–200 BC)- Image 5. Bulgaria 3 BC- Image 7. France 5^th century- Image 9

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Details of the Recreation:

I chose to recreate several beads that are on display in a variety of museums to ensure historical accuracy. I worked with each museum's high-resolution images to recreate the piece with their unique characteristics. These beads can be from 15 to 45 minutes of work each. I followed the average dimensions that these beads were found to have. My preferred aesthetic is a precise number of dots and layout, though you can see that this design choice is used, as well as a looser approach. The House of Hurts and Lochac beads have a commonly used colour scheme, though creative liberty was taken for the Politarchopolis bead. Red glass can however be found amongst beads in this timeframe and location.

Making the glass beads:

I used a graphite paddle, mandrels, bead release, a knife, fire annealing and gravity. I try to use the least tools possible and authentic equipment that would have been used by the glassmakers of the time. I use a hot head torch and MAPP gas. In the future I have plans to recreate a small portable kiln but melting glass in a small kiln is very difficult as getting the heat hot enough to melt the glass is a struggle. Instead of annealing them in a furnace, I use a product called vermiculite to allow the beads to cool down slowly. I also use a kiln. In the future, I would like to try annealing them in a furnace to see what it is like. Image 3, 4,10 are my recreation.