Ancient Glass Earrings from West Papua's Dimbo Culture

A collection of ancient glass earrings, Geelvink Bay area, West Papua; these glass earrings were collected on the Waropen Coast along the north Coast of West New Guinea, traditionally called 'Dimbo' in the local Warpoen language, they were An important type of traditional wealth used for bride price payments, other types of compensation payments and for goods, especially bird of paradise skins that Malay traders came to obtain by trading glass and metal objects. It is thought that this trade went over 2000 - 3000 years, in an archaeological dig in lake Sentani they found 'Dong song' bronze age axe heads, kettle drums and ancient glass ornaments. Some of these glass earrings are of great antiquity and are certainly based on the glass tear drop shaped ornaments from the 'Dong song ' bronze age culture of Vietnam (1000 BC to 1 BC). In the late 19th century people from Eastern Indonesia, brought forge and bellows technology to this area of New Guinea, this gave them a rudimentary metal working technique and also glass melting technology, which allowed them to make their own glass earrings from old bottles that were also highly valued trade items. References for further reading: Plumes from paradiseby Dr Pamela Swaddling 1996 3 - 2.56 in. (35)

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Important - Important is a word used in the antique trade to indicate an object should be ranked above other similar objects, and is therefore more valuable.

The object could be considered important because it is by a famous designer or maker, has been shown at a major exhibition, is of exquisite workmanship, is rare or is a "one-off", was made for an important patron, and so on.

Even further up the pecking order are objects that are described in catalogue descriptions as highly important or extraordinarily important.
Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.

The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.

It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture.

This item has been included into following indexes:

fireplace accessories - bellows 71
New Guinea tribal artefacts
- axes 61
- drums 105
- ornaments 98
- spatula and other wealth objects 100