{"product_id":"byzantine-glass-cross-applique-pendant-1","title":"Byzantine Glass Cross Appliqué \/ Pendant","description":"Byzantine Empire, probably Syro-Palestinian, circa 7th–10th century A.D.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA thick press-molded blue-green glass roundel of truly exceptional surface quality, decorated in high relief on the obverse with a central Latin cross surmounted by a looped suspension head (crux ansata \/ loop-headed cross) set within a dotted\/beaded outer border that encircles the disc. The flat reverse preserves the original molding plane, now entirely transformed by centuries of burial into a shimmering veil of iridescent patina — copper-gold, emerald, lavender, and steel-blue flash — overlaid with soft rosy earthen tones. The obverse shows deep pools of translucent emerald glass surviving amid the iridescent devitrification crust, confirming the original blue-green metal.  The cross itself is of the looped (ansate) form, a type rooted in the Coptic-Byzantine adaptation of the Egyptian ankh, widely used in Late Antique and Early Byzantine Christian iconography as a symbol of eternal life and resurrection. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSmall loop-headed crosses of this type were produced in glass, bronze, and lead as inexpensive personal devotional objects, amulets, pilgrim tokens, or pendants and are attested across the Byzantine world from Egypt and the Levant to Anatolia.  \u003cbr\u003eNYC private collection, ex Jean Mahie, Bahamas, 1990s.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e (Jean Mahie — the atelier of Jacqueline and Arline Moussaieff Mahie — was the renowned Paris\/Bahamas-based maker of one-off sculptural gold jewelry, known to incorporate ancient objects into its designs; an appliqué of this character and quality would be entirely consistent with a Mahie studio purchase in the 1990s.)","brand":"Art for Eternity","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67715526459706,"sku":"16912","price":795.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0775\/5120\/6714\/files\/101006.jpg?v=1792191232","url":"https:\/\/howardnowes.com\/products\/byzantine-glass-cross-applique-pendant-1","provider":"Art for Eternity","version":"1.0","type":"link"}