Button or Bead or Spindle Whorl
The dot-in-circle motif recalls designs presumed to be of magical significance, most likely an abstract eye to ward off the evil-eye, which serves an apotropaic function. Easily reproduced with a tool and visible in many cultures and times, this symbol may have lost its meaning, and become simply a decorative pattern, or may have one that we have not yet discovered.
Credit: Rogers Fund, 1940 ...
Credit: Rogers Fund, 1940 ...
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8th-10th century
Stone; incised
40.170.381
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Where you'll find this
Permanent collection