"Bead and reel" is an architectural motif, usually found in sculptures, moldings and numismatics. It consists in a thin line where beadlike elements alternate with cylindrical ones.

Bead and reel motifs can be found abundantly in Greek and Hellenistic sculpture, on the border of Hellenistic coins. In India, bead and reel motifs are found extensively, starting from the time of the Mauryan Empire, where they appears at the base of the capital of several of the Pillars of Ashoka

Pillars of Ashoka

The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout the northern Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed by the Mauryan king Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BCE. Originally, there must have been many pillars but only nineteen survive with inscriptions. Many are...

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