Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries


Visitors' Forum

Asian Art  Forums - Detail List
Asian Art Forums

Message Listing by Date:
Message Index | Back | Post a New Message | Search | Private Mail | FAQ
Subject:Ancient beads?
Posted By: Abdul Sun, Sep 13, 2015 IP: 182.178.221.2

Hello all,
I have got a Beads parcel from Tribal area Pakistan as ancient Indus valley and Gandhara civilization beads.
Could anyone please identify them as if they look real or replica?

Thanks







Subject:Re: Ancient beads?
Posted By: Michael O Mon, Sep 14, 2015

Look like real etched carnelian beads and the blue one looks like lapis lazuli. They do not look so old to me but I am no expert and it is also difficult to tell from photographs. By the way, ancient beads tend to be really fragile, so handle with care.

Subject:Re: Ancient beads?
Posted By: Abdul Tue, Sep 15, 2015

Thank you Michael O,
For your reply and advice..that i shall keep in my mind in future,

i have received some more unusual and kinda maybe unique stone beads from Indus (apart from agate and carnelian))valley region,
but i need to identify the stones first :)

Subject:Re: Ancient beads?
Posted By: Thayne Fri, Sep 30, 2016

They are definitely not new because they do show some wear- see chips around the holes, smoothing of the design and bead ends and loss of part of the inlay of the second bead, but could be any age- from 40 years to a couple thousand, since agate doesn't show much aging even when buried. Closely related to Tibetan dzi beads, it is agate/carnelian that has been carved, then inlayed with a design in a lighter color.

Photo is of a relatively more modern dzi bead from Tibet. It would be interesting to know who invented the technique first and who was the student.




Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |