Utilitarian but beautiful....

The Chinese made jadeworks not only for decorative or ornamental purposes. They also made utilitarian objects with jade such as the two beautiful white jade earpicks I show below:



The longer one on the left has floral carvings while the shorter one has one end decorated with a bee motiff. Both have a well shaped scoop end for the earpicking function. They are likely to be from the Ming-Qing period.

According to some sources, earpicks serve dual functions that is they can be used as headpin cum earpick. So I guess ancient ladies stuck these elegant earpicks on to their equally elegant hairbuns or coiffure and when they need to, they would just tweak it off and clean their ears. Doesn't sound so ladylike to me and surprising for those distant times when ladies were delicate beings who moved around with bound feet. But perhaps they only did their ear cleansing rituals in their private chambers ?

IMPO, the scoop of the shorter earpick seems a tad large for putting into the ear. It would surely cause some damage, I would hestitate to put it into my ear ! So, perhaps its really just a beautiful ornament.

Or is it for scooping snuff ? But did ladies use snuff.....these ornaments look feminine to me ....

Beautiful Hands

These beautiful jade hands are sometimes known as Fut Sow (Buddha Hands). I got them at a closing down sale. They are kind of newish (10-20 years) and I would not normally buy such stuff. But as the boss was clearing lock stock and barrel I thought they look kinda appealing and affordable.





For fengshui followers, Buddha hand is said to give people a strong support and ward off bad energy.

The smallest hand on the right is holding a piece of flat jade as well as a tiny bead clutched between thumb and forefinger. Now what can this be symbolic of, I wonder.

Conversation with Eggheads, er, Beadheads...

I call this composition 2 under the Crystal Tree.

These two sweet old beadheads are chit chatting under a crystal tree. One said "I am just a SWEET old bead" "Well better than a FAKE one " retorted the other. Words of oriental wisdom ? No just Murikami-style conversation amongst beadheads. Hehehe !!

Blue and yellow beadheads from China and Vietnam. Drawing on wood beads courtesy of S.

Amazing Faces of Zhulong

My talented friend Maddy designed this lovely necklace featuring a crystal zhulong as a centrepiece. She allowed me to take this picture to post on my blog for all zhulong admirers/fans. We put our heads together but still could not figure out the exact vintage of this particular piece. We just know that its a little old but definitely NOT as old as Hongshan. The supporting beads of turquoise, amber and coral give this necklace a Tibetan cast as these are the stone colors most often seen on Tibetan jewellery.

Here's a closeup :

With so much zhulongmania around, I too have finally gotten hold of a FAKE crystal zhulong, shown below. Wa, it sure looks ferocious and wild compared to Maddy's more genteel piece. I have a very bad eye that always sees wrong things, here I am about to make another strange sighting. Surely the zhulong shown here is looking like someone's grandma !! It brings to mind the famous exclamation, "... goodness, what big eyes you have grandma ?".... Hmmm, so is this a pig, a dragon or a grandma :)))

Apologies to the true and original zhulong which is a rare work of art. What I am really hoping, is that one day I will have the chance to hold it in the palms of my hands.

A Rainbow in the Sky

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety. by william wordsworth.

Thanks A. for sending me this Rainbow of Hope It is indeed a beautiful work of nature and I am glad to use it to mark new beginings and old endings to my blog. Thanks too to WW for this unforgettable verse to lighten up my quiet Musings.

Look out for more frolic with jade, manao, crystal, turquoise. glass, braids, knots, beads, hairpins, animals and other little wonders.........

White Jade Square

This flat white jade square with 4 holes was purchased on one of my China trips. This piece may have formed part of a jade belt or it could be a Pei. A jade pei is a pendant used in ancient times as a decorative ornament , stitched with silk threads to other items to form a belt or chateline.

The color is greyish white with low relief carving showing a pattern of interlocking long "S" scrolls and short "C" scrolls and the same pattern is repeated on both sides. There are small patches of white calcification on the surface and this whitening appears on both sides which maybe evidence of antiquity.These aging marks make me optimistic(though not postive) that my jade square may at least be Ming if not Han.

Using snake knots and Pyu green glass beads, I converted this last ramnant of an ancient jade belt or pei into a unique pendant necklace with a long history.

Spring and Autumn Necklace

I purchased these 3 long cylindrical crystal beads from China. The seller had said Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BC) which makes them 2773 years old. From my experience Chinese sellers like to attribute anything crystal to either Spring and Autumn or Warring States Period and sometimes Liao Dynasty. I dont know the real reason for this penchant but my guess is that there must have been many excavations of crystal beads and artefacts from tombs of these periods.

Incidentally, I have also come across a magazine article in Cultulral relics world no6, 2007 featuring excavations from Zhejiang Province which showed a whole pile of crystal cylinder-shaped beads which were provenanced to Spring and Autumn - Warring State period. So based on this flimsy evidence the date for my long crystal beads may be considered acceptable ? Sound like a 1/2 past six theory, even to my own ears, but this is the best case I can make out for it :))

The beads measure from 3.5-4 cm, are drilled from both sides and drill marks are evident in the perforations. The shape is simple and elegant and the surface is quite pristine without much weathering except at the ends.



There is something about ancient crystals which make me go gaga, although I am not really into new age beliefs, I guess they do have some kind of attractive energy. My knotting fervor has by no means abated and so I worked out this design of button and roll knots incorporating one of the long crystal bead in the centre flanked by smaller white ancient glass beads from Vietnam.


O well, genuine or not Spring & Autumn Necklace is a lovely name for my long crystal bead necklace. It feels very special and I shall have joy wearing it.

Welcome to the Lunar New Year of the Bull er, OX

O that the year of the Ox will usher in a mad Bull run ! It seems appropriate for me to post here my bull seals. Lest I be accused of being off-topic as I have self declared this blog to be about jade and beads, I must quickly add that in bead terminology a seal is also bead related especially bead seals.

The seals I show below are made of crystal and were purchased in Cambodia.

The first bull seal above is dome shaped with two holes drilled at the top for stringing and was probably used as a pendant or amulet.

The next 3 seals also depict bulls but are flat and without holes.

I have come across seals like these in the ACM (Asian Civilisation Museum) According to the writeup given on the ACM display, Khmer crystals have been discovered at sites along the Mekong Delta. It goes on to say that the engraved crystals "probably served as seals or stamping dies and clay impressions taken from the seals may have been used as offerings as they have been found under boundary stones and the foundations of temples."

The engraving on my seals are beautiful and I sure hope they are authentic Khmer period seals related to those described in the ACM exhibit.

On page 124 of Ornaments from the Past: Bead Studies after Beck there is also a picture of an intaglio of a bull attributed to Indian origin which is somewhat similar to my above seals.

Here is a plasticine impression of my crystal bull seals :


While the first bull looks like it could "charge" the remaining three bulls are more like "sitting bulls", very mild and docile. I have seen sculptures of such peaceful bulls in temple grounds of the Angkor ruins.

The color for Lunar New Year is red and it would be unseemly for me to post only white crystal seals . Actually white is taboo for tne New Year, so I'd better not defy tradition. Lucky I got a brown colored one in my set of bull seals. I think maybe this stone is jasper.



The reds and golds in the following pic will give a more auspicious welcome to the OX, Bull, Oxen, Cow, what's in a name anyway so long as we can say Gongxi Facai, Nian Nian you ZHU, er, Every Year Have BEADS :-)))


And to conclude my Ox and Bull Story here are some real Water Buffaloes from my old home town, many moons ago!!




And as a bonus for me someone kindly planted some cardboard cows on the rolling green behind my home to welcome Year of the Ox 2009, how very considerate !


Mooooooo! And oh dear, many of these cows were subsequently stolen ! Tsk! Tsk!

The Lotus and the Lark

The header of this post sounds like a title from some profound book. But it is not ! Its only about my tiny jade lotus strung up with the larks head knot in blue/grey cords.


Jade lotus vintage about 50-100 years old. There are also 4 ancient Vietnamese white glass beads accents. Planning to wear this for the Lunar New Year.

Double Coin Knot n Jade Yuan Bao Necklace

I made this "lucky" necklace to ring in the New Year.

It is composed of the double coin knot as a central piece with button knots and ancient Vietnamese glass beads making up the rest of the chain. The double coin knot is a decorative motif composed of two antique Chinese coins overlapping one another and symbolizes prosperity and longevity. Dangling from the knot is a jade yuan bao which also represents old Chinese coin or money. Gold is the symbol of wealth and so the gold color satin cords add emphasis to this manifold auspicious necklace ! How cheesy can I get ? :)

Here's a close up of the necklace :

Well so much for welcoming the New Year, as 2008 draws to a close I am not without sadness. In my favourite comfort columnist AY's* words the year has not been without "its sadness and joys, relief and regrets" And for my last post of 2008, I'd like to shed a silent tear for all partings, good byes, personal losses and pain which has been.....

Postscript: Sadder still, AY passed away suddenly in June. So, no more consoling words... He has touched many lives, including people he did not know.

Sa Huynth Earrings

This funny shaped three pronged stone (maybe nephrite ) ornament was purchased from South Vietnam. I think it belongs to the the nephrite earrings (sometimes called lingling-o) from the Sa Huynh Culture of Vietnam (1000 BC to 200 AD), a late prehistoric metal age society on the central coast of Viet Nam.

However my specimen may not be genuine Sa Huynh. I somehow got the feeling that it is a replica. The seller being uneasy himself, had said that it is from the Champa Kingdom, a later civilization and that could bring it as far down as 1800.

The curled up C-shaped ornament also reminds me of the Chinese Hongshan (3500 to 2000BC) zhulong(pig dragon.) The zulong is descended from the jue(slit ring) and the jue-form is also used in Vietnam although later than the Chinese period. So from this chain of reasoning my impression that the lingling-o and zhulong are distant cousins, relatives or whatever, may not be too far fetched ! Though I must admit that my assumptions are completely unscientific !

Are my eyes or mind playing tricks on me ? Seems like the more I look at it the more I see the zhulong pose (minus the prongs) in the earring ornament. Here are two views:

The picture on the left is a lingling-o looking view (the earring view) usually shown in books and other sources. The picture on the right shows a different view. Does it not resemble the curled up zhulong ? Wish I could post a picture of a zhulong for comparison. Unfortunately, I do not own one not even a replica. However jade collectors would be familiar with this legendary artifact and the Net would also have many images of this illustrous mythical animal.
So is this a fake lingling-o that looks like a zhulong ? Well I must say this is one tricky piece and the faker must be having a good chuckle baffling hapless collectors like me. :)

Here is another C-shaped, lingling-o/zhulong lookalike ornament made from glass also purchased in Vietnam.

Vintage unknown.

Large Spherical Jade Bead

This emerald-green satin cord of snake knots sits well with my large pale green spherical jade bead.



I used this piece as practice for making snake-knots and it looks not too bad ? Hehehe! Self applause and loud clapping ! As a l-i-m (learn-it-myself) crafter I must admit that my project was not all smooth sailing and I did encounter obstacles. First of all my cord dimensions although taken from a pattern in a book, ended on the short side. It may be due to typo error or it might have been due to the loose tension in forming the knots. Although the snake knot is one of the easiest of the Chinese knots, the tension still took a while to get the hang of. I had to unpick and start over many times. Oooo ! what a pain in the neck that was ! With chinese knots the mantra is not only "practice, practice, practice !!" but also "patience, patience, patience" It is also dash difficult to get the snake knots to lie flat, they keep on undulating like a typical snake !

My poor grasp of the chinese instructions was another handicap. On the bright side I actually picked up and learned some new vocabulary...
Back to my bead .. like all things Chinese this necklace has many auspicous meanings. The large bead is carved with the Chinese character "Shou" for longevity, while the snake represents - rebirth renewal and healing. It is also regarded as a source of good luck as well as guardian of treasures.

The surface decoration of the bead consists of two roundels with the character "Shou" and surrounded by spiral patterns. I guess this is a new bead of not more than 20 years. It's large size 2.5cm across makes it a good centre piece for a choker necklace. Close-up below:

Here are 5 more similar looking beads in various sizes.

Fun with Dolls and Beads

Playing with dolls and beads seems like return to second childhood! But I just could'nt resist making these cute "wawas" or dolly wollies with knots and beads. So please indulge my silliness for one post, ok? :)



The heads are made from monochrome old Chinese and Indonesian glass beads.For the feet and hands I use seedbeads with a couple of ancient trade wind beads for the hands of the left dolly. The flat knot is used to make the doll's bodies. I got the pattern from a Chinese knotting book.

Buttons and Beads

Button knots look like beads and make lovely accents for my ancient beads. I am so glad I mastered the button knot to tie this necklace of ancient glass beads from Vietnam. Cord knotting is also a gentler medium for stringing of centuries old beads.


The large central greenish bead is barrel shaped while the two side beads are melons of a dark green shade. These beads may be imported from China or it maybe made locally. Looking at their general condition I make a wild guess that they may date from 1000 to 500 years old.

This second necklace is also composed of glass beads from Vietnam.


The knots used are the cross knot for the central bead and button knots for the rest of the necklace. Lavendar is my favourite color and these lavendar cords and knots gently pamper the 1000 year ancient white glass beads from Vietnam.

The button knot looks like a rosebud hence its also known in some quarters as rosebud knot, see closeup below :


Seller said the beads belong to the Cham Dynasty(from approximately the 7th century through to 1832, according to Wikipedia) The central bead is ovalish or ovoid (I think this is not the correct bead description term, but nevermind) with impressed grooves. The accompanying 2 beads are melon shaped.

Dragonflys with beady eyes

In these dark and dreary days of market crashes, lost savings and wrecked lives, I find relief in making these little knotted dragonflys with beady eyes.


These elusive bugs sure provide an antidote from the toxic problems of the current age and times. Some old sage might have said of them "Blessed be these simple critters with their diaphanous wings, they will give us peace.. ....." oops, sorry, dreamt that one up and just joking, read too much Murakami and Kundera ... heh! heh!

The knot used is the flat knot, sometimes called square knot.The beads used in the eyes are old Chinese and Indonesian glass seedbeads as well as a couple of Venetian whitehearts.

On a more mundane level these dragonflys also make good decorative material for handbags, backpacks, mobile phones and can be used as souvenirs and giftaways.


Or it can be worn on a cord as a pendant.


As these dflys can be made in small sizes I need only use the leftovers and remnant cords from other projects and need not incur extra expense. So they are really fun and free.

Here's a dfly of another kind, from my jade collection.


And not forgetting the real thing from my garden fence. I stalked it the whole morning and finally caught its diaphanous wings !


Oh, here's a bonus ! I spotted another welcome visitor on my fence, -- a red dragonfly.



Finally thanks to Jack Keene http://whatknot.tripod.com/knots/dragon.htm for the online pattern and tutorial on the making of the dragonfly using chinese flat knots.

More groovy, grooved, jade beads

Here are 3 companion beads to the groovy huan/ring in previous post. Purchased on the same trip and cut in the same groovy pattern, I cant help but think they are all from the same era. (Spring and Autumn Period 771-475 BC.) Overall color is also similar though patina, which can never be the same, shows some variation.

So far I have been unable to locate similar looking beads in books, the net, museums or markets which lead me to conclude (rightly or wrongly) that these are "uncommon" beads. Alternatively these beads may be regarded as "unimportant" among China's prodigious artefacts and therefore are never documented. Also, I may be looking in all the wrong places.


The beads are frail and hoary. They are weathered and bleached almost to the bone. But the twisty grooves are still vivid and impressive. The original color beneath the patina is lemony yellow with the usual age-mark magic spirals lightly sketched in the perforations. Each bead measures 3cmx1cm.

I am planning to compose and knot a necklace comprising this family of ring and beads but my bad back is acting up again and for the time being I have to be satisfied with just this short post to muse about them.

Groovy Huan/ Ring

I am not trying to be cute with the header for this post. This ancient Huan

or Ring, to give it its more general name, is really full of grooves. Although Chinese normally describe this kind of pattern as "twisted rope design", some sources have described the spiral patterns as grooves, which I suppose is also correct. I purchased it more than 5 years ago from Shaanxi Province. According to my "research" the "twisted rope" carving style of this Ring ornament can be dated to to Spring and Autumn Period 771-475 BC.

The jade has been altered and is completely covered with a beige patina. It is no longer jade like. But still fascinating nevertheless. The patina is like a piece of crepe which engulfs the whole Ring whilst inside the grooves a regular pattern of ridges (?) or maybe should I say crinkles or wrinkles can be seen? O dear don't know whether this is the correct description or if I am making sense! I dont know all the correct terms and would never make a good curator. Sigh !But please look at the picture to have a clearer idea of what I am driving at.



There is also iron rust marks on the one side of the Ring.

I speculate that the "ridges" visible in the grooves represent the tool marks on the original surface of the jade Ring. This Ring is also very well made with the grooves almost precision carved. The patina, the ancient toolmarks of grinding and the beautifully cut grooves all make this an unforgettable piece of artwork. Ahem, these are just my personal observations and ideas and and I have no hard facts to back up my story !

On a more serious note, there is a report about a paper * that delves into how groovy Ring ornaments, similar to mine, were created 2,500 years ago using compound machines. According to Harvard graduate Peter Lu "the spiral patterns on the small rings are Archimedes' spirals, which he believes are the oldest evidence of the use of compound machines." in China. He has even conducted an experiment to prove his controversial view.

O, the wonder of Chinese civilization, and their wonderful early inventions and works of art !

*http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn5103(for those who wish read about the theory )