At the Tucson Show nearly two weeks ago, I happened to be wearing this pendant on a recently-made necklace of red Chinese beads. An Afghan seller mentioned it to me and remarked that it was an Afghan piece. I said, "no, this is a new Chinese piece imitating Afghan work, that I bought about eight years ago." [Surprisingly, it was 13 years ago!] He looked at it more carefully, and said, "no—this is for sure an Afghan piece. I can show you some similar pieces." And he took me to a table where, indeed, there were carved glass pieces inlaid into white metal mounts. As well as just the glass elements. Sooooo, I am adjusting to the idea that my supposed identification as "Chinese" was mistaken.

By the way, he also told me that some of the carnelian beads in the necklace were also Afghan, and showed me similar strands in his inventory.

This just demonstrates that one has to remain open-minded, listen to ideas that may initially be easy to reject, and reconsider one's position. And also, one should be willing to admit when he has made a mistake—and make an effort to correct it.

JDA.