Kanzashi (Japanese traditional hair ornament) featuring Ainu trade bead.
This is a Kanzashi featuring an antique Ainu trade bead.
Ainu are the Japanese indigenous people in northern Japan. They had a dynamic trading network while Japan was officially closed to most foreign trade during the 18-19th centuries.
They traded furs for Chinese beads etc.
The Ainu used glass cheapest beads for necklaces called Tamasai, which expressed wealth and status.
Sometimes they put glass beads inside musical instruments. The bead was then thought of as the heart or spirit of the instrument.
The glass bead on this kanzashi used to be part of a Tamasai necklace. It is a circa late 19th-early 20th century Ainu trade bead, made in China.
I found it at an antique shop in Sapporo when I used to live there.
The Kanzashi fork (metal part) was made by an established Kanzashi craftsman in Tokyo, whose workshop has been active for more than 100 years. He mostly makes hair ornaments for traditional Japanese performing artists, such as Kabuki and Japanese dance performers.
I ordered this Kanzashi fork for my collection and combined it with the Ainu bead.
Size
Total length: 13.8cm
Size of the bead:16mm
Weight:11.3g
Material: glass bead, gold plated brass.
Product code: Kanzashi (Japanese traditional hair ornament) cheapest featuring Ainu trade bead