Two early Islamic large marvered glass beads, Syria or Egypt, probably 9th century, each of spherical form, one decorated with blue and white swagged bands, height 9.5cm, the other with swagged bands of yellow, blue, red and white, height 10cm, together with two smaller similarly decorated blue and white beads, heights 2.9cm, all drilled through the centre. Provenance: from the estate of a West Sussex collector and purportedly purchased in Cairo in 1961-1962. Note: similarly decorated glass mosaic beads were found in Fustat, suggesting a 9th century date. Similar beads are illustrated in George T. Scanlon and Ralph Pinder-Wilson's 'Fustat Glass of the Early Islamic Period... ', 2001, pages 118 to 122.