$1,000 increase sends 10 girls to university for a year
Bid to win an extremely unique collector's item of a tribal ceremonial silver hanging necklace from the Karen tribe in Burma circa 1950.
Artist: Burmese Silversmith
Title: Karen Tribe from Burma Ceremonial Necklace
Year created: 1910-1930
Medium: Silver 950
Edition: Original Necklace
Height (inches): 13
Width (inches): 9
Depth (inches): 1
This piece includes a certificate of authenticity.
Description of piece:
An extremely unique South East Asian collector's item of a "Karen" tribes silver ceremonial hanging necklace from circa 1910 - 1930. The necklace has forty six 2.5" hanging silver pyramid hanging shapes with 1.5" with hand engraved with 4 elephants and leaves. Very interesting shaped piece with a large variety of different details consistent with indigenous art pieces from Southeast Asia tribes.
Nicely framed and super special "gift"! Karen ethnic people refer to a number of individual Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic groups, many of which do not share a common language or culture. These Karen groups reside primarily in Karen State, southern and southeastern Myanmar. The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population with approximately 5 million people. A large number of Karen have migrated to Thailand, having settled mostly on the Thailand–Myanmar border.
Karen legends refer to a 'river of running sand' which ancestors reputedly crossed. Many Karen think this refers to the Gobi Desert, although they have lived in Myanmar for centuries. The Karen constitute the third largest ethnic population in Myanmar, after the Bamars and Shans.[7] The term "Karen" is an umbrella term that refers to a heterogeneous lot of ethnic groups that do not share a common language, culture, religion or material characteristics. A pan-Karen ethnic identity is a relatively modern creation, established in the 19th century with the conversion of some Karens to Christianity and shaped by various British colonial policies and practices and the introduction of Christianity.
"Karen" is an Anglicisation of the Burmese word "Kayin" (ကရင်), whose etymology is unclear. The word, which was originally a derogatory term referring to non-Buddhist ethnic groups, may have come from the Mon language, or is a corruption of Kanyan, the name of a vanished civilization. In pre-colonial times, the low-lying Burmese and Mon-speaking kingdoms recognised two general categories of Karen, the Talaing Kayin (တလိုင်းကရင်), generally lowlanders who were recognised as the "original settlers" and essential to Mon court life, and the Karen (ဗမာကရင်), highlanders who were subordinated or assimilated by the Bamar.
$1,000 increase sends 10 girls to university for a year