Jatim bead, multi-color 15x17mm, red, yellow, blue & white, with irregular hole
Surface is very smooth, bead may have been polished shortly before i bough it
Jatim is a contraction of Java and Timor, and relates to East Java in Indonesia, where the original Jatim beads were found. They are reliably dated to between 400-700AD. and possibly up to 900AD. The name Majapahit was applied to them when they first began showing up in the international bead world. It was wrong. These beads have never been found in Majapahit sites, and the Majapahit Empire existed much later.
Pelangi is an Indonesian name for the ones with trailed designs(See ASG-127) As far as i know the mosaic style doesn't have a name other than Manik (the word for bead in Indonesian)
Jatim beads have a core. Copies of some original patterns, but without cores, were made in antiquity. The designs were applied to the originals in two ways: Mosaic cane slices, similar to that used for millefiori and ancient Roman face beads (this one and others posted here) and combed designs (See ASG-127 only)
The influence of Roman and Sasanian Persian glass techniques is supported by glass analysis showing that raw materials from Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire) and Sasanian Empire were incorporated in Jatim beads. And trade went both ways: Jatim beads have been found in a Byzantine Red Sea port in Egypt.
Now the big question. Are these original Jatim beads?
Like many famous and popular beads, Jatim beads have been copied. Possibly throughout the ages, in Java, as well as elsewhere. Very recently some nice, but obvious, copies have come on the market for under $10. The originals are going for around $450
I bought these in Java in January 1992. Pete Francis was studying them around that time, but they weren't widely known. Nobody was talking about copies then.
I haven't handled any from archeological finds documented to be ancient so I can only compare mine to images. All I can say is they look a lot more like the originals than the copies that are on the market today.
Since I can't guarantee that they are ancient and since I didn't pay that much for them all I can do is offer them as examples of very interesting, and often attractive, and certainly interesting beads. If you buy them and they turn out to be ancient, lucky you! If they turn out to be 20th century or earlier copies I hope you enjoy them anyway. If you don't you can always send them back in original condition for a full refund (minus shipping costs)
I'm posting them in the Ancient section to make them easier to find. I welcome any well documented additional info about these beads!
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