Roman
Gold ring eye agate pendant, Near Eastern, circa early 1st Millennium BC
Agate, gold
Diameter of gold loop: 1.2 cm
Length of chain: 18 in (adjustable to 16 in)
Length of chain: 18 in (adjustable to 16 in)
A small circular ancient eye agate bead suspended in antiquity from a solid gold loop. With a modern 18 carat gold chain.
A small circular ancient eye agate bead suspended in antiquity from a solid gold loop. With a modern 18 carat gold chain.
Provenance
Private collection, UK, acquired in the 1980sLiterature
For thousands of years the eye has maintained a fixed hold on human imagination. From the Eye of Horus to the modern Nazar charms so popular today, the eye has remained a very potent symbol.Throughout antiquity, there was no symbol more recognised than the ‘evil eye’ when it came to warding off evil and malevolent forces. The evil eye is a superstitious curse believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, which is usually inflicted on a person when they are unaware.
Beads such as this example were used as protective amulets to ward off the evil eye. They became important apotropaic (to avert evil, from the Greek αποτρέπειν ‘to ward off’) devices that were worn in a manner of different ways, such as on necklaces, and were even sewn into layers of clothing.
See Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, acc.no 54.50.1 for similar Achaemenid examples.