Glazed powdered quartz composite (faience) and gold, 4.21 grams, 500 mm long [19.5 inches]. New Kingdom, circa 1,300 BC. These beads were made by the Egyptian people of the period known as the New Kingdom, the time of the greatest Egyptian Pharaohs, Tutankhamun and Rameses II. This necklace has been restrung with a modern screw clasp to wear in modern times using over 100 mainly circular and cylindrical composition beads of turquoise and white with three globular gold beads in the centre. Reference: Thames & Hudson, The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to the Present, no. 446 a-e. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.