Jatim Bead, Multi-color Mosaic, Red, Yellow, Blue and White, 17x19mm
SKU: GLA-90
Sale price
$40.00
Shipping calculated at checkout
Only 1 in stock
Description
- Multi-color mosaic Jatim bead, red, yellow, blue & white, 17x19mm
- This bead as well as GLA-88 and ASG-216 look like they might have been polished not long before I bought them, possibly to remove dirt and/or to grind down a chip in GLA-90, in only. The other two have a similar surface, but very irregular perforations that make me hope they are ancient despite the smooth surface.
- 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 these beads when they first began showing up in the international bead world. But it was wrong. These beads have never been found in Majapahit sites, and the Majapahit Empire existed much later.
- Jatim beads have a core. Pete Francis believed the cores to have been wound. Copies of some original patterns, but smaller and without cores, were made in antiquity. The designs are believed to have been applied to the original Jatim beads by wrapping the core in a semi-molten sheet of mosaic cane slices, similar to Venetian trade beads and ancient Roman methods. The bead would then be heated to fuse the core and outer layer. Sometimes there's a seam where the sheet met.
- I see possible traces of such a seam in GLA-88, GLA-90 and ASG-216
- The influence of Roman and Sasanian Persian glass techniques is supported by glass analysis showing that raw materials from Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire) and the Sasanian Empire were incorporated in Jatim beads.
- Now the big question. Are my Jatim beads original ancient 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 1988, but they weren't widely known yet. 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!