Re: ID ?
Re: ID Please -- njstark Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Mail author
05/29/2006, 14:41:02

Hello Nancy,

Needless to say, it is very difficult to make a materials ID based on a photograph, and so little information.

Nevertheless, I will hazard a guess:

These are modern glass beads, made in India and marketed in Nepal, and made to imitate amber. Very similar beads in the pink-to-red tonal group have been made to copy coral. Such beads are frequently sold as "traditional" beads from Nepal/India/Tibet, but in fact they are just recent beads looking for a market. They first appeared in the early 1980s, when India began cranking-out glass beads with a vengence—that were quickly misidentified and misrepresented.

So, if I am correct, these beads are less than 25 years old, have no ethnographic context nor tradition, and are merely conveniently sold as though they did and are older than they are.

I hope this helps. Jamey



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