Late Roman Glass Pendant with Turtle

A late Roman bright blue glass pendant, featuring a circular shape and thick suspension loop at its top. The front of the pendant depicts a Turtle.

Earthly encrustations remain on the

Date: Circa mid 4th - mid 5th century AD

The mass production of glass in Ancient Rome explains the common use of this material in jewellery-making. The ageing process of glass endows Roman glass jewellery with unique qualities. For instance, contaminants manufactured into the glass, combined with the surrounding environment over thousands of years, result in beautiful iridescence and speckling, where the glass might formerly have been transparent.

Such glass pendants would have been worn by Romans as good fortune charms to bring good luck and ward off the evil. Iconographies were extremely differentiated, including apotropaic symbols, images of deities and animals.