Bracelet
Unknown Artist
ca. 1802–1700 B.C.
Medium
Black, white and green faience
Dimensions
l. 16.4 cm (6 7/16 in)
Classification
Bracelet
Period
Middle Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922
Accession Number
22.1.259
Art Historical Context
This delicate bracelet, crafted around 1802–1700 B.C. during Egypt's Middle Kingdom (Dynasty 13), exemplifies the era's masterful jewelry-making traditions. Measuring 16.4 cm in length, it fashioned from faience—a glazed ceramic composite of quartz, lime, and clay—in striking black, white, and hues. Faience was prized for mimicking semi-precious stones like turquoise or lapis lazuli, luxurious adornments accessible beyond the elite. In the Middle Kingdom, a time of renewed stability and artistic refinement after the chaotic First Intermediate Period, jewelry like this served both aesthetic an...