Gallery

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.

Lisu people necklace

Posted by Joost Daalder on August 22, 2011 at 4:00am
These extraordinarily fine necklaces are now very hard still to obtain. The design's beauty can actually best be seen when the piece is spread out as here: once it is worn the dangles of course fall downwards. This is made of a good quality silver alloy, and was worn at New Year's festivities by girls of marriageable age. The Lisu are found in Myanmar (Burma), Kachin State, and Thailand. The width of the piece as shown here is 34.5 cm. It is quite heavy, and dates to about 1930-60.
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Comments

  • SARAH CORBETT August 22, 2011 at 10:19am

    Hi Joost, this was the first of your pieces I saw.

    I still find it mesmerising

  • Joost Daalder August 22, 2011 at 2:29pm
    How interesting, Sarah - and how pleasing! Yes, I too am very fond of it, and "mesmerising" is a good word for the impression it makes. I must make a confession here: this was one of the few instances in our life together when Truus really had to "push" me. The trouble was that I don't like bad silver or whatever may wrongly pass for silver, and this piece had been so neglected, with a thick film of tarnish and dirt on it, that I thought the metal might be really poor. So I was a bit reluctant (I don't imply, anyway, that she somehow needed my "approval", but we prefer to agree). When once I started polishing, I was soon persuaded that Truus had been entirely right to insist that we should get it, and I am very glad she did, for these are actually hard to buy. As you can see on the photo, it is in excellent condition, too, but it was so very grey and grubby that I really had serious doubts ... Quite wrongly so, as it turned out.
  • SARAH CORBETT August 22, 2011 at 3:41pm

    I am glad that you agreed with one another and secured this beautiful piece for your collection. Thank you for showing it.

     

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