Striped Ball Bead

Large faience hollow ball-shaped bead with eight alternate segments of light blue and dark blue. Each section is additionally delineated by incised lines. Pierced at the top and bottom for suspension on string. Rough surface with some discolouration. Provenance recorded as "from the banks of the Nile, 1870". Compare with Florence Friedman, 'Gifts of the Nile. Ancient Egyptian Faience' (Providence, 1998), pp. 115, 212 and 259 (cat. nos. 181 and 190).