A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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phantastic, all these precious or semi-precious stones and of such age. Impressing.
Michel, - I don't like raising this, but I think you are too optimistic in your assessment of the age of this. Far too many of the turquoises are of quite recent vintage, and the whole gathering has a typical make-shift look to it which we now see too often in pieces of this kind. There are some old materials, for sure, but the mixture seems to me to have been put together fairly recently. The piece is appealing, but not, I think, at all old in terms of its make-up: the items look as though they were recently brought together, both old and new. Not an unattractive piece: just not as old as you seem to think, I feel.
You maybe right but if you see the state of the cloth inside it is quite not recent and we are both too wise to discuss about the fact that it could be 75 or 100 years old and that some of the stones could be more recent than others ; moreover, I already saw restored or/and recent pieces and you can believe me that you can see the difference... Beside, I agree with you that there are many re-made pieces like this and that we must stay cautious about these. Best thoughts Michel
Michel, I certainly did not mean to imply that your statements were anything other than those of a man of integrity and knowledge, but as you are aware, these are pieces about which we must be very cautious, and there is little doubt that there are more and more made-up ones, and pieces with very large areas replaced, etc. I do not myself think that the presence of old cloth is any solid indication of authenticity of the piece as a whole: on the contrary, very many of them do use old cloths in their manufacture, and a number of these pieces are known to have been made up in the 80s with old cloth as something invariably used to suggest authenticity. Presumably that practice has continued since, as well ...
My dear Joost,
Sorry to answer with some hours delay but december is a busy month : well to make it short, I would say that I totally agree with the philosophy of the content of your comments but our prisms could be slightly different because you are first of all a great collector and I am mainly a dealer and expert to the court who is trying to find top jewels and artefacts from different kinds and different ethnic origins ; beside, I get the piece in real in hands and that never will be replaced even by the best pictures we could put on the pc and tablets... and to finish with this particular headdress, when you have it in hand and look at the used state of the inside edge that it had be worn long time...of course , we won't make the carbon14 (for the cloth) test and use the technical stuff dedicated to the gems each time we find a jewel or piece...we have to trust and be a bit confident in our experience (which includes many aspects) and expertise...Best thoughts Michel