Ottoman Period Agate Bead Inlaid with Gold, 1500 CE - 1800 CE
Agate/Gold
SJ.0123
Decorated with a delicate pattern of swags and floral wreaths, this lovely object was created during the long twilight of the Ottoman Empire. Such beads adorned the stems of water...
Decorated with a delicate pattern of swags and floral wreaths, this lovely object was created during the long twilight of the Ottoman Empire. Such beads adorned the stems of water pipes smoked by the Sultans, the pashas, and other powerful and wealthy personages. We can imagine it in a gilded seraglio, held in a languid. Jeweled hand. What stories such an object might tell, tales of wonder, of mystery, and intrigue.