:: Wholesale prices (to shops) are listed :: Retail prices (to individuals) are double ::
If you are looking for something that used to live on this page, but do not see it anymore,
it has either sold or has been shuffled to the other category pages.
Click on the smaller thumbnail-sized images to view full-sized pictures of the jewelry.
The larger images are always posted at actual size,
and should print out accurately.
Final batch of burnt bamboo plugs
Our final batch of both burnt design bamboo plugs!
Have a look at what is available
listed on our bamboo plugs page.
A batch of pre-made plain and black bamboo plugs are also available!
Brass Dayak earweights
New brass Dayak earweights:
nine different spinning top (gasing) designs and
two different dragon dog (aso) designs (shown lower left).
Only $25-40/pair!
Guizhou earrings
Miao earrings, from Guizhou province, South China, collected there in 2003.
They are 3-11/16" from very top to longest dangly bit, ≤9ga on the wearing surface, and about 8ga to get them in past the first spiral. They are missing a couple dangles on the bottom which one the first photo highlights. $300/pair.
Iban Dayak Kain Kebat Bidang cloth from Borneo
Iban tribe kain kebat bidang,
a traditional style of cloth made by the Iban Dayak in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Kebat is to bind or a bundle (reflecting the ikat fabric-dying process which entails tying bundles of strings), and kain means cloth. $200.
Please click on this image to view a larger version; more images are available upon request.
It measures 23-1/2" to 24-3/8" wide by 45" long (or around).
It is a good size to be worn as a wraparound short skirt or hip wrap, although unless you are quite thin you would want to sew the gap together to make a tube skirt. In this form it is called kain kebat bidang. This type of traditional Iban tribe clothing is called ngepan.
It could also be used as an altar cloth or wall-hanging.
These fabrics were woven by women and have deep cultural and ritual importance (sometimes called the "women's warpath"). For example related pua kumbu cloths were used to intercept the severed heads of victims the men brought back to the village when headhunting was still practiced. These skulls were then hung in the rafters, bundles of which are often still seen in Iban longhouses to this day. The preparation of the material and the traditional plants to form dyes was a laborious process imbued with meaning and ritual. Only the most proficient weavers would be allowed to tattoo their hands. Women displaying these tattoos are almost all elders now, although there are various tattoo revival movements in progress. To me these weavings are imbued with the creativity, strength, and resilience of Iban Dayak women.
Please note there are several stains which I have not attempted to remove. I have not assigned an age to this cloth because it is unknown and guesses often get later repeated as truth. The name of the woman who wove it and her village were unfortunately unrecorded or have been lost over time.
Ayam Hutan - Jungle Chickens!!!
Just hatched: Jungle chickens! Ayam hutan (ayam = chicken; hutan = jungle/forest). Chicken of the woods.
The wild fowl progenitors of the modern chicken, jungle chickens (Gallus gallus) were the source of what would eventually become one of the most important birds in the history of humankind.
These ear weights are based on a design from the Dayak people of Borneo.
I remember the times I slept on split bamboo floorboards inside of longhouses there, where the roosters would abruptly crow underneath before the sun even rose, and now every time I hear one I am instantly take back to Borneo.
I remember the slow boat to nowhere, the crazy loud engine putt putt-ing away as lightning flashed sideways over the trees and thunder boomed close behind. Later precariously tied to the bank of the swollen river, we rode out the storm watching the water rise many feet as evening turned to night, eating a simple meal and singing broken Indonesian birthday greetings to my travel companion while being regaled by the sound of a hundred tiny chicks peeping away in boxes - a sweet contrast to the powerful force and sheer volume of water flowing all around us. That was the moment I knew for the first time the enormous power and gentle poetry of the rainforest.
These pieces of adornment represent many things, from the journey of the wild to the domestic, nomadic lifestyles turned sedentary, the pens and cages we build to house what once roamed free...
I think about the long relationship of chickens and humans, of sustenance and transportability, of domestication and civilization and food security, of folklore and symbolic cocks and eggs and pecking orders, of avian flu and chicken pox, of bodies rent to strips and tenders and breasts and nuggets, of sacrifices and blessings, and all the benefits this once-wild simple bird has brought to humanity.
How we have artificially shaped the course of their evolution to better match the needs of our own species? At what great cost to each individual, even as the sub-species as a whole is perpetuated? And how has this shaped the course of our own history?
These ayam hutan (jungle chicken) earweights are available for $150/pair wholesale in bronze.
While bronze is traditionally thought of as an alloy of copper and tin (whereas brass is copper and zinc), this alloy is referred to as silicon bronze and is composed of copper, silicon, and manganese.
Silver chickens may be available upon request,
likely in the $350/pair range.
These have a rustic aged look,
with a satin, not super shiny patina.
The top hooks measure between 5ga and 4ga
(approximately 3/16", ≤5mm).
They are around 2-9/16" (65mm) overall from top to bottom, and the width of the largest part of the bottom pendulum is about ≥13/16" (20.5 to 21mm).
These weigh an average of 1.83 ounces (51.9 grams)/each.
These should not be the first pair you've tried as they are heavy earweights, and caution should be used when wearing.
They can also be worn through eyelets.
They will tip slightly forward when worn.
The photograph with leaf background is not posted at life size.
Balinese silver earrings
Balinese silver earrings with faceted inlay and granulation. $60/pair.
The front parts are just under 1/2" in diameter,
and the back posts are around 21ga.
:: Our Cafepress shop ::
We have added several items to our online shop set up at
cafepress.com/organicjewelry where you can order various fun items with the poppy mandala, dakini girl, dogwood flower, and other designs on them.
We've designed such goodies as:
a clock, mugs, a hat, bags, stickers, long and short sleeved shirts, magnets, pajamas,
an amazing wooden jewelry box with a tile top, a bike messenger style bag, and more!
They take care of all the ordering, taking payment, returns, all that good stuff, so it's a separate deal from us. We get a cut from each item sold. What's really fun is that they print them one at a time, so if only one person orders an item, they will have a one-of-a-kind product.
Please check it out - we're really excited about it!!!
:: Ethnic and tribal jewelry ::
Maasai women's beaded collar necklace
with leather (not plastic) spacers. $100.
Please click on this thumbnail to view a larger photo
(not posted at life size).
:: Non-piercing jewelry ::
:: Body Jewelry from Natural and Traditional Materials ::
Horn plugs with inlays
Two pairs of <3/4" horn plugs
with iridescent paua shell inlay. $35/pair.
These photos are not posted at life size.
Oddballs!
Custom horn plugs that were never purchased once made,
and a few last of their kind from styles we used to carry:
0ga horn plugs with tan mammoth ivory (?) inlays (removed),
<5/8" horn plugs with coconutwood inlays ($18/pair),
a single ≤5/8" horn plug with a black star
surrounded by white bone dust inlay ($10/one),
<1" horn plugs with engraved stars not filled in with anything -
the effect is like black on black 3-D nautical stars ($36/pair),
and >1-1/2" hollow horn plugs with small bone dust inlaid dots ($40/pair).
A single 12mm (just under 1/2")
solid horn plug with sculptural Borneo flare
and inlaid instead of cut out spirals.
The back flare is very mellow.
It was made as a custom order for a labret and they never got back to us once it was made.
Now up for grabs! Only $10 wholesale.
Other new goodies not shown include:
horn omega's now down to 12ga, 11ga, and 10ga,
horn upside-down U's now down to 12ga and 10ga,
horn Java style hoops now in 11ga and 10ga, and
super super thin horn spirals down to 20ga (crazy!).
:: Our Etsy shop ::
UPDATE: Etsy is forcing sellers to upload their personal photo IDs, and has forced all of us who will not do so into mandatory 'vacation mode' without our consent for not complying with this extremely intrusive, unnecessary, and highly risky demand. Therefore, we are not currently selling on Etsy.
Lots of interesting raw materials, inlay material,
odds and ends, and unfinished items
we are thinning out, have been set up our very own Etsy shop!
Therein you will find:
cut sections of bamboo, porcupine quills, coconutwood rounds, spiral shells, horn tusks and spirals, antique jet faceted beads or necklaces, Baltic amber and copal specimens, Baltic amber cabochons or cylinders,
many stone rods, cylinders, beads, talons, and tubes
(jade, serpentine, aventurine, goldstone, red jasper, etc.),
tools for other makers, o-rings, semi-finished supplies, antique tribal pieces,
and bulk deals - only found there, and not on this normal website! Please check it out!
Not Shown
Some goodies we're sitting on,
but either haven't found the time to scan, photograph, describe, program in the html, or upload yet...
... and/or items not yet shown on this website nor any catalog pages, images, or scans,
and possibly will never be posted online:
Images of the stone double flared plugs mentioned but not yet shown.
Unique horn plugs including: amazing huge silver cap and bone dust inlay designs in very large plugs.
Pre-made hardwood plugs are sporadically available. Please inquire about our current selection.
Pre-made bamboo plugs - normal prices, but with no wait. We usually have some that are solid on one side (cut on the node), black bamboo, and the normal hollow variety. Please ask!
Various used books come and go: cultural anthropology, medical, piercing related, etc.
Perhaps: Brazilian indigenous peoples' traditional ear jewelry.
Congratulations for making it to the bottom of this very long page!!! Are you still reading this? You rock!
