Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.
Ball Bead
Middle Kingdom–New Kingdom (about 2055–1069 BCE)
- Medium
- Faience
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Dimensions
- 3.2 × 3.1 × 3 cm (1 5/16 × 1 1/4 × 1 3/16 in.)
- Culture
- Egypt
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Ancient Egyptians presented ball beads as votive gifts to the goddess Hathor, who was associated with beauty. In other contexts, these spherical beads could be strung on necklaces singly or in sets, or worn as hair ornaments. The hollow beads are made from Egyptian faience, a ceramic composed of quartz, an alkali, lime, and a colorant. In this example, painted black stripes accentuate the vibrant blue hue that was created by adding ground copper to the faience.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
