Rare Pair of Bamboo Ear Plugs, Karen People, Eastern Burma, 19th or early 20th century

Rare Pair of Bamboo Ear Plugs

This rare pair of bamboo ear plugs is beautiful for their simplicity and for their exceptional honeyed patina: they are small treasures.

Each comprises a small segment of thick bamboo, with the ridge necessary for the plug to stay in into which the stretched lobe can settle, being a natural part of the bamboo.

Lewis, P. & E., Peoples of the Golden Triangle: Six Tribes in Thailand, Thames & Hudson, 1984.

private collection, London.