A rare Phoenician Carved Tridacna Shell with Bird's Head, ca. 630 - 580 BCE Jewelry - Pendants This shift in aesthetic tastes

This shift in aesthetic tastes is thought to have been influenced by the Emperor's favorite concubine

thereafter private NJ collection

most excavated examples are of siren’s heads

and upturned nostrils

A rare Phoenician Carved Tridacna Shell with Bird's Head, ca. 630 - 580 BCE Jewelry - Pendants This shift in aesthetic tastesThis shell, carved from Tridacna squamosa, a type of giant saltwater clam that flourished in the warm waters of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, was used to carve a distinctive type of cosmetic container for a short period between the late seventh and the early sixth century BCE The elongated form has a deeply fluted exterior and a concave interior, the umbo (the protrusion at the top of the shell) is simply but powerfully carved in the form of a