Antique Sherpa “Coral” Glass 58 Bead Strand, 19th century

• Weight: 270 gram

• Antique Sherpa Coral glass beads made to imitate coral for the Sherpa people of Nepal. 
• Traditional Sherpa coral has been used for centuries in jewelry as a substitute for real coral by the Sherpa people who inhabit the region around the Himalayan mountain range. These were popular  beads in Nepal and Tibet where real coral is much more expensive. As trade beads and many have pits and dark crevices which adds to their character. 
• These wonderful glass beads imitate coral  These glass beads are named after the tribal people of Himalayas who are called Sherpa. Sherpas mostly live in the foot hills of the Himalayas near Mt. Everest. The Sherpas are perhaps best known as guides to Mount Everest mountain climbers. They also are craftspeople, monks, farmers, writers, philosophers and traders for whom clans and lineage rule society, even in modern times.  They work and live and work at the foot of the Himalayas among related peoples — the Limbus, Rais, Magars, Gurungs, Thankalis and Tamangs.
• Traditionally, these coral looking glass beads were worn by Sherpa women as replacement of genuine coral. As early as the l700s they are traded glass beads from China , India and even Europe. These beads are very popular among Sherpa women and even other ethnic groups of people who live close to the Himalayas.
• Today, old Sherpa coral — while still worn and passed from generation to generation of the Sherpa people — is more difficult to find

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