Bead

Art Historical Context

This delicate bead, crafted from onyx (or a similar stone) between the 9th and 11th centuries, exemplifies the refined lapidary skills of early Islamic artisans. Measuring just a quarter-inch high and about three-eighths-inch wide and deep, its diminutive scale belies the precision required to cut such hard stone into a smooth, functional form. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Islamic Art department, it was acquired through the Rogers Fund in 1948. During the Islamic Golden Age under the Abbasid Caliphate, beads like this were ubiquitous in jewelry, amulets, and prayer strings (tasb...