Javanese Jatim Bead Strand

Green and mustard glass, and the largest bead has the good manners to sit in front.

This Jatim bead strand comes from East Java, Indonesia, and is Javanese, Hindu Javanese by catalogue, dating to the 8th or 9th century. It is glass. Jatim is short for Jawa Timur, the Indonesian name for East Java, and glass beads like these were worn as adornment and signs of standing in that Hindu Javanese world. Rounded beads run from mustard at the top through soft green, growing in size toward the front. The surface is matte and lightly pitted. Fourteen inches long.

Twelve centuries is a long time to hold a color.