Ancient Chinese Currency and Glass Beads Lot

An assortment of 42 glass beads, cowrie shell currency, and beads of various material, Shang and Zhou Dynasty, and later Varying sizes from 0.6 cm to 3.6 cm long (42). Cowrie shells were the most widely used currency during the Shang and Western Zhou dynasty. For convenience, these shells were drilled of holes, or, during the late Shang dynasty and the early Western Zhou period, flattened and removed of their back such as the three shells in this lot. The appearance of glass beads such as the three in this lot marks the earliest date of manufactured glass in China, following the introduction of the technique from the Roman Orient. Similarly to the so-called eye-beads from the Roman Orient, the two small beads in this lot are also decorated with inlaid pellets. The raised design of the pellets is peculiar to China. Not to be outdone by its western counterpart, some of the beads are inlaid with concentric pellets - a design known as 'dragonfly-eye' in China