Decorative pins, ca. 1350-1250 BC (New Kingdom, 18/19th dynasty)

MediumWhite, red, and blue glass, formed on a metal rod, spun coloured glass threads and fused coloured glass powder

(L x Ø) (a)2,6 × 1,6 cm

Status

on display, room G 04

About the workThese pins, the earliest evidence of glass art in the Kunstpalast's glass collection, present a mystery. How were they used? They are often interpreted as a kind of earring, but the eyelet and the ornamentation on the shafts suggest that they were threaded together to form beaded jewellery. However, there is no known archaeological or pictorial evidence of what this might have looked like. Such pins have been found in Egypt and date back to the Amarna period – the reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiti – around 1340 BC. They were made of glass or glazed faience, a material comparable to glass.

AccessionAcquired 1927 from the Kunstgewerbemuseum

Provenance[...]; o. D. Sammlung des Kunstgewerbemuseums, Berlin; 16.6.1896 - 1927 ehem. Kunstgewerbemuseum Düsseldorf (1883-1927) erworben vom Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin aus dem Bestand an Doubletten; 1927 übernommen aus dem Kunstgewerbemuseum

Inventory numberP 17025C a-c

Ancient Egypt

Contact

sammlung@kunstpalast.de

Permalink

https://sammlung.kunstpalast.de/en/objects/134126/zierstifte

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