Hi Danny,

Quite a few pre-Columbian beads are called "jade," when "green-stone" might be preferable. "Green-stone" encompases a variety of materilas, but these are often something like granite with something greenish in it. Some specimens tend greatly toward gray.

These beads can be judged on their artistic merit rather than material. After all, some beautiful prase beads and pendants were made in antiquity.

There are also many imitations of these beads, recently made in Guerrero, Mexico, that can be pretty convincing.

Not to be crass, but I would have to judge your bead to be sort of low in quality, in terms of its carving--though beauty is in the eye of the beholder. (I'm replying because no one else has had anything to say for several days--and I am not one to flatter or beat-around-the-bush.

It's a nice piece for what it is.

Jamey

Jamey,
I agree that the quality of the carving on the bead leaves alot to be desired, I always thought the crude carving gave this bead character that a perfectly carved could never have.

I also agree with you that most "Jade" beads are not Jade I have collected Jade for nearly thirty years and have spent a good part of those years educating my self on Jade especially during nine months in the PRC and some months in Hong Kong in the late eighties. I honestly think that this bead is a low grade piece of Guatemalan Jade, perhaps not.

I do want to thank you for at least saying something about this bead. One reason for putting it up is that there are very few stone beads posted and I wanted to try to generate some interest in what I feel is a quite often overlooked material in bead collecting. Stone beads aren't usually as eye catching as the beautiful glass beads but they are quite collectable.

My wife Suzi and I atarted collecting beads in the late seventies and we have a very large collection of both glass and stone, over the coming months I'll try and post some of my more interesting stone beads I just need to dig them out of storage.

Thanks again Jamey .......... All my best ...... Danny

I don't have many, but of the few I own I probably am wearing 1/2 the time. They have been posted here on the forum, but unless the title of a post is very concise, items are hard to find in a search months or years later.

Here is my lovely ancient chalcedony from 2 years ago. Some say Bactrian, some say Islamic. Whatever their actual age may be, I am satisfied that they are truly old beads. I wear them at least once a week. Strung with 4 high-karat gold beads. I have restrung since to delete the faceted bead toward the front.

Other ancient stone beads I love to wear are banded agates, small graduated ones as well as larger single ones brought from Tibet personally by Bob Brundage (they are hardly to be found there anymore).

New stone beads I enjoy are a few of American turquoise and a nice rhodochrosite pendant.

Maybe there will be time for a couple of new images this weekend.

It's a little jolt of extra interest in the design, with the color keeping it "in synch". Thanks for sharing this image, it's beautiful.

that kind of attachments is the quite evidence to identify it.

I love this piece !

R.M.

Hi Joyce,

I love your beads. Chalcedony, even more than jade, is my favourite among all the stones that were used in ancient cultures. I love that sort of misty mysteriousness that it has - kind of like opals but without the fuss! I don't think it was ever as valued as lapis or jade or as popular as carnelian, but there's nothing as stunning as a big chalcedony bead that has blue clouds swirling through it. I saw some very old Bactrian examples in a private collection when I was in northern Pakistan earlier this year. They were said to come from a site near Balkh in Afghanistan that had been dated to the late third millennium BC. But chalcedony went on being used in that area and also in central India right up to our own time. None of the Balkh beads was as pure blue as yours; they were beautiful in a different way, with the blue mixed in with a waxy grey-brown base. Yours really are stunning. Do you have any way of tracing them back to where they came from?

Will

Hi Will,
They came from Afghanistan. The focal bead is a nice deep blue, and the flip-side is a bit greyish - the way the bead is naturally shaped and it's weight distrubution in relationship to the hole keeps the "pretty side" facing outward long as I put the necklace on facing the right way! This quirk does not bother me in the least though. I had wanted chalcedony for a few years since handling a strand priced at 14,000.00. Gulp. It was too large and irregular for me anyway, and mine is just right and with fine color. Glad you like 'em!

11-12th century north china

Do you think the focal bead represents a pear?

maybe a pear hehe but it is more like the gourd or calabash?

Gourd is very much popular in old china becouse the chinese name of gourd sound like "fulu". well in chinese Ħ°fuĦħ means blessing or happiness and good fortune; "lu" means good salary for officials.

for this reason you can see the gourd form have been widely used in many places.

R.M.