dear Will
the large silver bead seems to have a large hole and is likely to be made to fit together with others bought one at a time to thread onto a fat bracelet or necklace chain, as part of the brand name ranges called Pandora or Troll beads.
The coral i can recognise as chinese - its bamboo coral- beige but dyed to appear coral. before you feel disappointed, this dyed coral is sparing the last remaining coral reefs from being annihilated, so its allowing precious coral to grow again...

Thanks, Stefany. That's very helpful. I can see I have a lot to learn about coral! This is lesson #1, but I shall need a few more, I'm sure. Fortunately, it cost me nothing, and I like the style of the necklace; I'll find a friend to give it to. I haven't yet found a similar silver pendant, but I shall keep looking. It's an unusual shape.

Here, incidentally, is the Vietnamese enamelled polychrome jar that got me into this.

All the best,

Will

Dear will

Congratulation for the nice lovely jar. Although that Chinese strand is not made of real coral, but I forgot it after looking at that jar.your knowledge is so extensive about ancient objects and beads .

Best wishes

Ali

Thanks, Ali, for your generous words. But the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know!

I'm glad you like the Vietnamese jar. It's unusual to find such polychrome ceramics in such good condition, especially at a farm auction in rural Ontario! They were made by potters at the My Xa kilns in Hai Duong province in Vietnam, but most of them were exported, occasionally to West Asia but mostly to Indonesia. There they became symbols of status at the courts of the new Muslim rulers who were coming to power at that time. I think one can see how the vibrant colours would fit into an Islamic aesthetic.It's an interesting connection that nobody has noted before.

Most of the examples that have come down to us are from shipwrecked trading ships, and centuries of salt water have almost always abraded the enamels and damaged the underlying glaze as well. I'll attach a photo of a large charger (35 cm diameter) as an example. Ali, you can see how these would have been desirable for Islamic-style feasts (in East Asia large plates were seldom used until centuries later). In this example, which is in much better condition than most, the vibrant underglaze cobalt blue remains, but the green enamel has become muted and the red and (possibly) gold have vanished. If one looks closely, their ghosts can be seen at certain angles on the glaze that remains.

Apologies to everyone else - this is a long, long way from beads. But for anyone in the eastern USA who is interested, I'd just like to mention that some of the finest Vietnamese polychrome pieces can be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (they were acquired mainly in the 1980s when one of my closest friends was curator there).

Cheers,

Will

A few observations:

I think Stefany meant to remark, "... beige but dyed to appear coral-red." This stuff is coral, and doesn't have to altered to "appear to be coral."

Precious corals, as exploited from the Mediterranean Sea, and off the coast of China and Japan are solitary creatures. They are not part of coral reefs. If the exploitation of other non-precious corals is giving the coral regions a rest to regrow, that would be a good thing. But I'm not sure this is factually the case. And, given the massive quantities of bamboo and other corals that are now exploited, I fear that THEY are going to be or become endangered. In any event, expoloiting or not-exploiting precious solitary corals has no effect in favor of protecting coral reefs.

For quite a long time I have expreseed the correct idea that not-buying precious coral does not protect the ecologically-important coral reefs. Only restrained collection will save precious corals. And this restraint has only to take place for a few years to make a significant difference. Even just five or six years. However, I have come to believe that sponge coral (a very different non-precious coral, exploited for cheap costume jewelry) may be derived from reef corals. And, if this is true, we should boycott buying that stuff.

It is my opinion that practically all desirable organic bead materials are endangered, and many are at risk for extinction. The exceptions are those that are renewable—for instance, being farmed. Cultured pearls are one example. Also, those that are fossil materials are not renewable, but are plentiful, in various parts of the world—and their exploitation harms no living plants or animals.

Thanks, Jamey, for the really informative overview.

I'd just want to underline the fact that the greatest threat to coral globally is climate-change. At reefs I have visited over a more than 40 year period in the Andaman sea and off the coasts of Indonesia, the effect has been horrifying. Just a couple of degrees increase in the water temperatures can lead to bleaching and extinction. I have scientist friends in both places who are trying to regenerate and even rebuild reefs, but the process is costly and often disheartening. The solutions ultimately will have to be global, not just local.

W.

Thanks, Jamey, for the really informative overview.

I'd just want to underline the fact that the greatest threat to coral globally is climate-change. At reefs I have visited over a more than 40 year period in the Andaman sea and off the coasts of Indonesia, the effect has been horrifying. Just a couple of degrees increase in the water temperatures can lead to bleaching and extinction. I have scientist friends in both places who are trying to regenerate and even rebuild reefs, but the process is costly and often disheartening. The solutions ultimately will have to be global, not just local.

W.

Hello Will,

I nearly posted a P.S. about this.

I recently watched a scary documentary that was about the destruction of coral reefs, due to a slight increase in sea-water temperature. The before and after images were horrific.

So I totally agree that climate change has brought about this situation.

Nevertheless, people have to curtail their greed, to protect the species that have been impacted through over-collecting.

Be well. J.