Etched Carnelian Beads Bracelet

Another favourite bracelet, this time made of etched carnelian beads mostly from Burma. Locals here call these beads "xian zhu" or fairy beads and they are believed to be related to "tian zhu" or heavenly beads, which Westerners and Tibetans call "dZi". These beads are at least a few hundred to a thousand years old. The red spacer beads are made of old glass from Vietnam. All the beads were purchased separately and I had to wait a long time to put together this bracelet. As I was still short, I have included one plain faceted carnelian and one black banded agate to make up the whole piece. This bracelet composed in 2005.

Xizhou Glass and Faience Beads Bracelet

This is one of my favourite bracelets, made up of ancient glass and faience beads from China's Xizhou Dynasty (1027-771 BC) Beads are cylindrical as well as biconical shape with small white disc shell beads. Teal colour some nearer to turquoise colour. The cylindrical beads are of faience while the biconicals are of glass. 2 of the biconical beads have undergone a "sea change" with the blue turning whitish, possibly as a result of decomposition of the glass due to long burial.

Beads purchased as a longer strand from Sichuan province and broken up into various projects. These over 2000 year old beads, really give me a pang ! I hardly dare to use this bracelet as it is so fragile and breakable. Hmmm....perhaps the biconical beads would be better as a earring dangle ! On second thoughts, maybe not such a good idea as it would mean putting wire and hooks through these lovely and brittle beads.