Roman Hand-Blown Glass Bead Pendant pius The radiate portrait presents Augustus

The radiate portrait presents Augustus not as a living ruler

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

Trajan was remembered by the Romans as the greatest emperor who ever ruled

when glassmaking reached extraordinary levels of refinement

This example preserves especially fine detail

Roman Hand-Blown Glass Bead Pendant pius The radiate portrait presents AugustusFormed 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.