MSI045

TRADITIONAL BURMESE-STYLE GLASS EAR PLUGS (PAIR) — NORTHERN MYANMAR

OVERVIEW
Authentic old glass ear plugs (ear spools) in translucent yellow-green trade glass, hand-worked and finished in a traditional workshop style. Compact, balanced, and fully wearable, preserved in very good condition for age.

SHORT HISTORICAL NOTE
Across northern Myanmar and its borderlands, glass ear plugs were worn in stretched earlobes as everyday adornment and markers of identity. Trade glass offered luminous color and durability, making it a valued material for personal ornament long before modern plastics.

ORIGIN & CULTURAL CONTEXT

• Culture/Tradition: Northern Myanmar ethnographic body adornment (Shan and neighboring communities)

• Geographic sphere: Myanmar (Shan regions and northern hill areas), with material culture parallels across borderlands of present-day Thailand and China (Yunnan)

• Period (approx.): Late 19th – early 20th century (exact date unknown)

MATERIAL & CRAFT

• Material: Glass (not tested; consistent with traditional trade glass)

• Technique: Hand-worked workshop production; softened edges and surface wear from long use

• Color: Translucent yellow-green (“lemon” tone) with natural internal variation

RARITY & COLLECTIBILITY

• Rarity: Uncommon intact pair in wearable size

• Quality: Even form, honest age wear, no cracks or losses

• Collectible value: Representative ethnographic ear ornaments from northern Myanmar trade networks

CONDITION
Very good for age; fully intact, stable surface, wearable and collectible.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Weight (pair): 3.75 g

• Earlobe hole: 8 mm

• Sale: Sold as pair

WHY THIS PAIR MATTERS
These glass plugs reflect how color, light, and everyday durability shaped personal adornment in northern Myanmar’s border cultures—quiet witnesses to trade routes, local craft, and lived identity.