Found on eBAY_ Filipino Not Tasmanian

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The seller here was labouring under a set of common misunderstandings ... " a wonderful vintage Tasmanian Aboriginal shell and seed necklace ... it measures approx 16" from end to end and is strung on black cotton string ... necklace has a stunning intricate design with apple seeds and aboriginal shells strung together"

Well it is quite clear that this necklace is NOT Tasmanian Aboriginal – see earlier postings here. Why? Well:

• The string pattern is not one that was used by Tasmanian Aboriginal necklace makers;
• The seeds are not apple seeds as is commonly claimed – albeit not by this seller – and are in fact ipil-ipil seeds – from a tropical acacia tree;
• The shells are not of a kind found in Tasmania and are typical of shells found in tropical waters – Tasmania's waters are far from being tropical;
• and thus everything stacks up for this necklace originating in the Philippines, possibly in the 1960s/70s and related to necklaces exported to the USA, Australia and elsewhere as 'hippy beads'.

However it is a wonderful necklace and typical of those believed to have been made from apple seed , not ipil seeds, in Tasmania.For this one to turn up with this stringing patern and shells is important information. Also, it must be noted that the seller was working with the very best information available to her; was being totally honest with her clients;and was trading with the utmost integrity. Indeed, she is now cooperating with the network in our research effort.

The discovery that apple seeds were in fact 'ipil-ipil seeds' quashed the growing belief in Tasmania that these necklaces were made by Tasmanian Aboriginal people. It also put to rest the idea that they were even made in Tasmania. It is a small world and things move around in it.

Interestingly, the evidence is stacking up for these necklaces originating in an Indigenous culture – it is just that it was in the Philippines and NOT Tasmania.