| Original Message: Re: Afghan Serpentine |
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Hi Will, I think the practice of calling these beads "jade" must be pretty recent—but as mentioned, it's not a surprise. Most of the people I buy these beads from (and even since I first saw them about 12 to 15 years ago, if I remember well) have been frank that they are serpentine. And I'd have to guess that it's because most of these folks (apart from actual Afghans) don't know about charmaksud. I think your beads will look great if you oil them. I would. I have a single ancient serpentine bead from Afghanistan that is almost yellow and translucent, and looks very new. I bought it nearly twenty years ago, as the pendant on a strand of small carnelian beads that date from between 1,500 and 3,000 BCE. It's in such good condition, I suggested to the seller (a good friend) that it might be a ringer. However, she was convinced it was an early bead, that had been fortuitously well-preserved. And I am inclined to believe her. (She is a very smart cookie—and not a crack-pot.....) I'll try to show scans of this and the charmaksud. Lately, I've mostly been working from the laptop, and hardly ever open the desktop computer—which I have to do to scan anything. But I'll try to find some time to do that. Be well. Jamey All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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