We have a vast collection of images here which have been shared over the years ...
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Comments
Stunning!
They sell them on Indonesian fairs here in Holland.
Ah, Akar Bahar! We bought some of those in Indonesia (they still wear those nowadays). They are thought to have magic power against rheumatic diseases. They are worn on the left arm.
In China you do have (very rare) old snuff bottles made of them and in Japan (old) netsuke.
thanx everybody.
for sale
yes these do look familiar now,, i saw them some place and never knew where they were from. So that means black Coral is from that side so probably you're right traded from Indonesia in. I do remember reading about old people with rheumatic conditions in Mongolia wearing them.. it was a health issue related thing. Maybe because coral is a kind of skeleton they think that way?
Black corral is under protection. And Alaa is right it does look like sea alge. I still see it on the beaches of some Carribean beaches (were my children live.) it looks like very delicate lace in a fan form quite large and the stem solid. It comes onto the beaches with special winds. Some people dry it as a decoration for their houses. In the Carribean it is now mostly dwindled. In a short span. About corral in Mongolia or China. China did have seas in the interior which have now dried up, that is also were the so called bamboo(dyed) corral or mountain corral comes from . So it also could have come from these areas.
The bracelets from Indonesia do look beautiful. And in my point of view also well greased through the skin oil maybe ?
Pieces like these because of their size must be very old. I know that in 25 yrs that I have seen carved pieces (like dolfins etc.) were than carved out of one solid piece and now in a special shop it is build up from small pieces glued together and than carved..