SPIRAL COIL BEADS

These 2 coil beads were purchased at the same time as the chinese glass ornaments described in earlier two posts.

Here are some smaller specimens.

Previously I thought they belonged to the tradewind category and going as far back as the 12th century but now it looks like they are also Ming dynasty. According to the book Zhong Guo Gu Dai Bo Li Jian Shang Tu Lu,  these coil beads are quite plentiful, (though ironically I have only this handful to show) and they are therefore lowly rated at only 3.

Here are some blue glass coil beads which are in better condition and with more turns. These were collected from South Vietnam but may have a similar vintage and origin as the Chinese coil beads. However these examples were not included in Zhong Guo Gu Dai Bo Li Jian Shang Tu Lu.

Chinese Glass Ornaments 2

Blue Glass Ear Ornament

This sweet little blue glass thingy had been perplexing me ever since I bought it.

Neither pierced nor perforated, it is neither a bead nor a pendant  and is distinguished by a depression across the centre.

centre depression

The depression extends all the way to the back.

back view

It was purchased together with other Ming glass ornaments discussed in previous post. A more savvy collector could have guessed its use easily, but not an ignoramus like me !

Now thanks to Zhong Guo Gu Dai Bo Li Jian Shang Tu Lu,  I know  for sure that its an ear ornament. Here's how it could have been used originally:

Hah ! Mystery solved and case concluded :)

My only regret is it didn't prove to be as "rare and mysterious" as I had imagined. The book only gave it a rating of 3+  which means there must be many pieces out there for the taking.