and some more, not as beautiful but interesting as well...

Some special glass bead from Han dynasty. Easy to find in north china but there is no research article on them yet.

The little turquoise Han bead with the dark "comma" [cloud? flame?] decorations.

I think so. I believe chinese call them 'splashed ink' glass.

I think so. I believe chinese call them 'splashed ink' glass.

** sorry for re-send, the network has always been slow

Hi Sandrow,

Actually there is quite a bit of information right here in the archives of this forum. They are generally referred to as "Chinese Warring States era beads", with the "eye-type" beads being made generally in the last half of the first millennium BC. It is a lengthy and rather unwieldy name, but is does describe the general time period in which they were made.

You have a nice little collection. The ones you show in the first picture are most often referred to as "Composite" beads because they are made of a composite of a terra cotta or faience-like core with a thin layer of glass. There are other types which are all glass, as well as other variations on the theme.

I would highly recommend the book "Early Chinese Glass", published by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, written by Simon Kwan, 2001. Of course it is mostly written in Chinese, but still informative even if you cannot read the Chinese portion. There are other references in many books and research articles over the years.

They are very fascinating beads made only during a rather short period of time relatively speaking. I have collected several hundred of these beads over the years. See a few examples below.

Happy collecting.

Jan Skipper
mosquitobay

Thanks Jan. Your collections are so fascinating. Actually I have the book you mentioned and is just reading through it (the fortunate thing is that i can read chinese :)

The glass eye beads are becoming more and more rare now. I hope I have more leisure traveling to north china hunting for these beautiful beads in future.

Here are two of my old catalog work sheets. A few of these are Chinese, but not Warring States era:

Though, I may have found a very good contact.... I am waiting for the pudding.

Hi, Jake. These eyes are also rare in mainland. I have a local contact as well and he told me to find more of them in Japan :(

and was informed that they are from the Achaemenid empire, Irani, Iraqi region. It seems to me that they could be attributed to potentially several cultures. I do not know why they were identified as such. If anyone here could inform me what specific characteristics tie to this period, I would love to know. I am not doubting the information, it seems reasonable as the dealer I purchased them from had just been in Yemen.

Hey, Jake. Actually people find these beads in chinese spring autumn burial grounds as well, which i believe are imported from west asia. But I have no clue it's from persian or phoenician or some other sites.
They are lovely and i'm also looking to find one.

..and the different includes more solid bead body and more crudely made patterns. One of my friends told me they are of an later age (possibly Eastern Han or Three Nations?)

I just got this one - big enough to be a ring (for a little person)

It's my first one!

JJ

This is one of my favorite types of Warring States era beads. They are less common and harder to find than the composite beads. Did you notice that it feels heavier than a normal glass bead might?

Good find Jake!

I have a big one with similar style as well, but fairly broken. The bead is lighter than typical glass beads so I believe it has a pottery core and is later in age than yours.

My daughter (who is fluent in the Japanese language), has informed me that they also refer to them as "Dragon Fly Eyes", at least in two of the Japanese language books that I have on the subject.

Here is some more "eye candy" for Chinese Warring States beads:

Those on the first line are referred to as 'dragon-ball', which are only found in Chu cultural area (now Hunan & Hubei province).
These are much different from their western origin. I have only some broken 'eye cylinders' in my collection but had not got a photo for them yet.