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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Comments
FANTASTIC! Super quality, and more attractive than several "over the top" examples of this type. I do love this. A truly great jewel. You did very well to have this, and I am sure you wish you still did ... But I congratulate the buyer, whoever that may be. What a terrific piece that is.
I can hardly stop looking at it ... Just showed it to Truus, who also loves it of course and wondered whether you had this for sale right now! Alas, I had to disappoint her ...
With many pieces I can tell myself that they are nice to see but that it is not, after all, absolutely essential to have them. But when I see something like this my tastebuds start working, and I go all agog with excitement and greed!
Just fabulous - that really "has it all", we feel, for this type of jewellery, with which we always closely identify ... An absolute stunner.
I find it interesting that you like this one so much. i think it is very nice as the design is unsual and it is very sophisticated design but it is definatly something I would not have worn myself. It is a bit too reserved for me. But for what it is , yes it's a good quality one no doubt. If I find another one I will let you have first crack at it!
Yes, I can see - when I come to think of it! - that this would be a bit too reserved for you to wear it. But from my viewpoint, simply as a collector, that doesn't really enter into my thinking. It would, for that matter, not be too reserved for Truus to wear - but again, that is not very relevant, for probably she would most of the time not wear it (she usually wears only very modest jewellery). In truth, she too thinks of it primarily as a supreme work of art. I think both of us are a little different from many (probably most) collectors in buying jewellery primarily as art, not for its wearability (I sometimes have difficulty persuading Truus to buy even a cheap piece just for wearing!!). To us, this is really one of the high peaks among the many excellent pieces that we know you have had (there are still of course many that we don't know). And yes, if it comes to getting another one as good as this, we would certainly be extremely keen to know, for we would definitely be in-principle buyers. As you say, it is sophisticated (extremely so, I feel, and in a positive sense). It is "rich" and impressive - very striking. Yet it is beautifully balanced and yes, "reserved" (that's a virtue in our eyes, not just because of our background, but more so because we are getting older!). It is quite tranquil to the eye, yet at the same time deeply meaningful, at several levels. Whichever aspect I think of, it is "all good". The colours are also terrific - great Persian (surely?) turquoise, and gold of a lovely shade. I could go on forever singing its praises, but have probably covered the main reasons why I love this. Your taste and mine very, very often overlap, but at extreme ends probably it is true to say that yours is from a European point of view more "southern" (in the direction of baroque) and mine more "northern". So that is why I probably love this yet more than you do. Vice versa with some of the very baroque Uzbeki or Uzbeki-type pieces. Even then, the difference is not really large, but perceptible. I think if we were given a huge pile of good authentic old high-quality ethnic jewellery from various cultures to choose from, we would probably choose up to 90% the same way, and with respect to the 10% where we'd differ we would still understand and respect the other person's taste. Whatever the percentage, I think it would certainly be a very big degree of convergence. That, of course, is also why Truus and I have bought many pieces from you and would have bought MANY more if we could have afforded to do so and would have been offered the chance.
This is not a vajra design. It's a Vase of Eternity (Bumpa).
I had it side ways when I first saw it and looked like a vajra but it is a vase..