Roman Hand-Blown Glass Bead Pendant pius This example preserves especially fine

This example preserves especially fine detail

Struck in Cochin in South India between the 17th and 18th centuries

Struck under Antoninus Pius

The reverse depicts a victorious figure driving a four-horse chariot—a quadriga—while holding a laurel branch

Roman Hand-Blown Glass Bead Pendant pius This example preserves especially fineFormed nearly two millennia ago, this hand blown glass bead dates to the height of the Roman Empire, when glassmaking reached extraordinary levels of refinement. Buried for centuries, its surface has developed a natural iridescence, a rainbow patina created as minerals slowly interacted with the glass. The result is not decoration applied by hand, but color authored by time itself.