Green Feldspar “Ba” Amulet with Amethyst Necklace
Fashioned during the Middle Kingdom, this enchanting necklace pairs the soft violet glow of amethyst with a small Ba Bird amulet carved from green feldspar.
The string is composed of twenty-eight substantial amethyst beads, mostly shaped into long, gently swelling bicones; charmingly, one remains distinctly misshapen, perhaps an unfinished scaraboid or an experimental attempt at faceting.
Green Feldspar was particularly suited to Ancient Egyptian jewellery and amulets, its fresh colour belonging to a wider palette in which green evoked vegetation, renewal and the perpetual return of life. It appears repeatedly in Middle Kingdom ornaments, sometimes alongside amethyst, lapis lazuli and carnelian, lending its verdant brilliance to both beads and protective figures.
Amethyst, meanwhile, enjoyed particular popularity during the Middle Kingdom, when its translucent shades; ranging from delicate lilac to deep violet, were worked into beads, pendants and small amulets, at times enriched further with gold.
Here, however, colour and beauty surround something more mysterious: the tiny green figure represents the Ba, that wonderfully elusive aspect of the Ancient Egyptian person which embodied individuality, personality and the ability to move freely between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Summary:
“Ba” Amulet of Green Feldspar with Amethyst Necklace
Middle Kingdom, c. 2040–1650 B.C.
Purchased from R. J. Moss & Co., 1901. British Museum. EA35116
