Thanks to the craftsmen of the Karen ethnic group, the traditional jewelry of the tribes of the Golden Triangle have not disappeared, and this millennial work unique in the world, a true cultural heritage of humanity, continues to exist today.
The art of jewelry of the golden triangle
Traditional jewelry
The ethnic groups of the golden triangle, living between Laos, Burma and northern Thailand, are known for their beautiful traditional silver jewelry.
Jewelry and clothes indicate the ethnicity to which the person belongs. And the amount of jewelry provides information on the situation of the family.
Each ethnic group has its jewelry that tells through their forms and motifs: its history, its origin, its myths and its beliefs.
Photos of the book "The Yao: The Mine and Mun Yao in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand" Jess G. Poutret
Silver this precious metal
The ethnic groups of the gold triangle lend protective and even medicinal properties to money.
This white metal, symbolizes beauty, wealth but it also keeps bad spirits away, heals and protects the souls of the person who wears it (Hmong and Yao/Mine).
Among the Hmong, the shaman during the soul call ceremony, uses silver chains and padlocks to treat and protect people.
Book photo: "The Art of Silver Jewelery from the Minorities of China, The Golden Triangle, Mongolia and Tibet"
Ancient Hmong padlocks
John Edmonson
Ancient traditional earrings of Hmong ethnicity (Book Photos: The Art of Silver Jewellery from the Golden Triangle)
Motifs and meanings
All these ethnicities are originally animists and even if some have become Buddhists today, they continue to worship the minds of ancestors and nature.
This is why the patterns that we find most often are animals, plants, dragons, phoenix, fish, ... and each of them has its own meaning.
They are often very stylized and sometimes only the village chiefs and elders still know what they represent.
Illustration by Jan Wartena from embroidered patterns
The jewelry is transmitted from mother to daughter and constitute the dowry. Even if these practices are lost, they are still very present in certain rural and mountainous regions, far from cities.
Women and little girls Lanten, North Laos region
Akha Village Mountains of the Golden Triangle
Pure silver Hmong padlock made by the craftsman
Traditional torque made by hand in pure silver by the artisan karen
Pure silver Hmong padlock made by the craftsman
Traditional torque made by hand in pure silver by the artisan karen
Some ethnic groups of the golden triangle
Small lizu
Little girls from the Lizu ethnic group in northern Thïland on the road to Mae Hong Son.
Woman u mine
Magnificent and rich adornment of this woman U mine (Yao) married to the village chief in the north of Laos towards Luang Nam Tha.
Lanten woman
Woman of the Lanten ethnicity in the north of Laos bearing the traditional jewelry of this tribe also called: people of the rivers.
Akha woman
Akha women are easily recognized with their head adornment, often embellished with French silver pieces dating from the Indochina era. Met in the north of Laos, it was to her that we bought the small seed bracelets that we sometimes offer to our customers.
Karen woman
Karens do not wear a lot of silver jewelry traditionally. Some Karen women formerly wore very beautiful lenders but the new generations no longer wear them at all. On the other hand, they remain very faithful to their traditional, very recognizable clothes.
Reference
If you want to know more about the old jewelry of the Golden Triangle I recommend this superb book. You will also find a wealth of information on ethnic groups with this superb book: "People of the Golden Triangle: Six tribes in Thailand" by Elaine Lewis
Are you curious?
Meet the Karen crafts, stroll Karen village In northern Thailand, discover the stages of the craft manufacturing of silver jewelry
