Glass bead
National Museum of Qatar
- Title:
- Glass bead
- Production place:
- South East Asia
- Date:
- 970
- Period:
- 10th century CE
- Title:
- Glass bead
- Production place:
- South East Asia
- Date:
- 970
- Period:
- 10th century CE
- Material:
- Glass
- Dimensions:
- 1.4 cm
- Diameter:
- 1.1 cm
This transparent purple-glass bead is one of many similar examples found in the Cirebon shipwreck in Indonesia. Decorated on the surface with blue and white dots, these types are commonly referred to as ‘eye beads’. This example shows signs of deterioration after 1000 years of submersion in sea water.
The technique to make these beads was practiced throughout the 8th-10th centuries in Southeast Asia. They were exported in large quantity to Samarra and the Mesopotamian basin in present-day Iraq. Laboratory analysis has established that this bead originates from South Indochina, then known as Funan, which today includes parts of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
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