.......Elephant beads.....
Elephants are an important cultural icon in Asia. For centuries they have been used as beasts of burden because of their great strength, memory, intelligence and trainability. In the past, elephants have also served in royal battles between Thailand and Burma with kings mounted on them as seen in many paintings. It is no wonder they are so loved and have been depicted in many carvings and works of art. Although the elephant is such a large animal, in Asia they are often made into small objects such as beads and seals.
My elephant beads/seals are from Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and China and they may date from ancient to vintage.
First I'll show the greens from Myanmar's Pyu dynasty (from 2nd century BC to 11th century AD)
 |
| greenstone elephant beads from Pyu period |
Here are the white ones also from Pyu dynasty
 |
| quartz and bone Pyu period
|
These 2 seals are from Cambodia and have intaglio carving of elephants.
 |
| elephant seals from Cambodia |
While these seals may date to the Khmer period,( around 9th-13th centuries) present day Cambodian elephants take tourists for rides in Seam Reap as seen below.
 |
| Ride a friendly elephant |
And tourists riding on elephants are replicated in these modern jade pendants from Myanmar.
 |
| Elephant rides depicted in modern jade carving |
The carved jade elephant below hails from China. It is perforated from top to bottom and so it is also a bead. Carved in the round with patches of brown, the body undecorated but showing ears, tucked trunk, tail and eyes it measures 4x2cm and is quite an engaging figure.
 |
| Jade elephant from China |
Most Chinese jade elephant carvings seen on the antiques market today are around the Qing dynasty. Ancient elephant carvings from China are not common though elephants did roam the Central Plains judging from the many elephant tusks recovered from the Jinsha and Sanxingdui (around the 12-11th centuries BC) excavations in Sichuan Province, China.
 |
| Showing ivory tusks from the Jinsha Onsite Museum |
There is also a jade elephant excavated from Fu Hao's tomb, Shang dynasty(around 1766-1027BC) But I doubt that my plumb little elephant is of that great age. Except for the 2 horizontal carving lines on the belly there are no decorative patterns that can relate it to an ancient period. And yet it does not look like a modern copy - so, another mystery....
Here is a 1960s elephant made of bone or ivory from Thailand
 |
| vintage elephant from Thailand |
And here is the whole vintage strand
 |
| Vintage strand of elephant, lotus and beads |
Below is another strand composed of greenstone beads, carnelian buttons and one small elephant.
 |
| Beads and pendants from Pyu dynasty |
And finally, my favourite elephant and other greenstone bracelet. The centre bead is serpentine from China.
 |
| Composed of 2 elephants and other greenstone beads |
 |
| Close up of the flat nephrite elephant bead which measures.10mm. |
 |
| Greenstone elephant bead from Pyu. 15mm long |
