Hello Gunnar,

A "pumtek" bead that "is not real" would be something like a bone bead with an applied design or pattern that intentionally copies a traditional (or nontraditional) pattern from a pumtek bead.

Pumtek beads are still (or recently) made in Burma. They are just as "real" as beads made in the 1920s, and as real as the prototypes made some 1500 years ago.

I have a necklace of wood beads from Bali, that clearly were inspired by pumtek beads, but would not be mistaken for them. Copies, fakes, transpositions, etc. abound, for nearly any popular bead type.

Regarding your bead, which part fluoresces? The pale lines?

Jamey

When you see something glow under a black light, that item may contain phosphors, which glow in UV light. Teeth, fingernails, and some bodily fluids naturally contain phosphors. Also certain laundry detergents contain phosphors, (actually makes white appear brighter), which is why some white t-shirts glow under blacklights. If your question is about the bead being made from "uranium" glass then I say, No. If your question means could there be phosphors in or on the bead then I say, Possible. Jamey would be the one to explain the creation of these types of beads and if phosphor is used in the manufacturing process. I would imagine the lighter areas give a glow. Sometimes a lighter colored surface gives a light colored or slightly violet reflection, this does not always mean it fluoresces. I hope this helps.
Thomas

According to Peter Francis

"Genuine Pumtek are made of the opalized wood of the palm Borassus flabellifer. They will fluoresce under a short-wave UV lamp."

Were you referring to this information, Gunnar?

Evelyn

Yes .. I was referring to this information. I have put the beads under an UV light in the school I work after reading this infrmation. Only a few of the beads I have give a distinct light under the UV-light. And it is not connected to the white areas. Kind regrads from Gunnar

Hi Evelyn,

It is no secret that I disagree with Peter on this one. My perspective of pumtek beads is rather different.

First off, the pumtek beads we saw coming out of India in the early 80s' were made from a variety of fossil (opalized) wood—as I remarked in the first article published on these beads since the ethnographic literature of the early 20th C. I showed specimens to Si Frazier in about 1983, and he remarked then that the material was NOT "palm wood" by the internal striations (as opposed to the dotted or spotty pattern of typical palm wood). It might be simplistic to presume that all of the material used for pumtek beads came from a single species.

Next, the early pumtek beads (the so-called "Pyu" beads), also present a variety of materials, including something quartzy that doesn't appear to be a fossil wood at all (though granted these are very small beads, and it might not be apparent).

Unfortunately, Peter had a tendency to make sweeping generalizations when he had not viewed enough specimens to have a clear picture. I suggested this to him in about 1980.

Jamey

Hi Jamey,

My question directed at Gunnar was asked in order to establish whether his mention of fluorescense in context with Pumtek was derived from the info on Peter's website.

Whether some of us agree or disagree with this info is another matter, but if I remember correctly, Peter did say that only some Pumtek were made of the type of fossilized palm wood which is supposed to fluoresce. It would be naive indeed to assume that all Pumtek that were ever made, were made from one and exactly-the-same type of fossilized wood.

Image: broken and un"decorated" Pumtek showing the raw materials

Cheers,
Evelyn

Thank you for the information!

I don't think that these lozenge-shaped beads are a traditional shape - I have never seen this shape in old beads. Jamey?

Hello Evelyn,

I can't be 100% certain what you mean by "lozenge." That is, what you might include and exclude.

Among the pumtek beads that came out of India in the '80s, diamond tabular beads were pretty common. Often a pair of them was included in almost any original strand of beads; sometimes two pairs. Much less common, but still documented, were tabular beads of round and rectangular shapes.

I suppose any of these might be considered "lozenges," though I prefer the term "tabular."

Jamey

Hi Jamey,

Ok, thanks. We mean the same beads. I am familiar with the round and with the rectangular tabulars. Perhaps Stefany would like to suggest a more specific term for the tabulars in Gunnar's image?

Evelyn

"Tabular" by itself describing a bead shape only means "flat".

The Pumtek bead necklaces that were available in the '80s were often arranged with a few pairs of tabular square forms with the hole from one corner to the diagonally opposite corner. So they could be described as tabular diagonal squares, in among the long barrels and spheres.
Tabular diamonds are not the same, The ones in the image are rather unusual forms for pumtek beads in my experience. It would be interesting to have seen the arrangement before the ones shown were taken off the thread?
I hesitate to use the word "Lozenge" as everyone seems to understand something different. Perhaps we all have different medications as lozenges to swallow...

Stefany

It is very interesting to follow your conversation. It seems that these beads, even though they are contemporary, still are able to draw some intellectual attention.