Comments on: The Kula model of jewellery exchange http://www.craftunbound.net/medium/jewellery/the-kula-model-of-jewellery-exchange Craft at large Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:15:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: admin http://www.craftunbound.net/medium/jewellery/the-kula-model-of-jewellery-exchange/comment-page-1#comment-24 admin Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:27:25 +0000 http://www.craftunbound.net/?p=167#comment-24 Yes, the hierloom is certainly a traditional form of jewellery in the West that reflects the custodianship of the Kula. It would be interesting to have a survey of hierlooms today. I wonder how many people have them, and what they are. I suspect that they are much less frequent now. That may change one fine day. Thanks for the comment, Anne. Yes, the hierloom is certainly a traditional form of jewellery in the West that reflects the custodianship of the Kula. It would be interesting to have a survey of hierlooms today. I wonder how many people have them, and what they are. I suspect that they are much less frequent now. That may change one fine day.

Thanks for the comment, Anne.

]]> By: Anne Brennan http://www.craftunbound.net/medium/jewellery/the-kula-model-of-jewellery-exchange/comment-page-1#comment-22 Anne Brennan Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:39:11 +0000 http://www.craftunbound.net/?p=167#comment-22 Hi Kevin, I think that the idea that ownership of jewellery in the West is "final" may not be as cut and dried as you suggest. I think women often think of themselves as custodians rather than owners of jewellery that might have been passed through a family, and the question of how things may be inherited in a family is sometimes embedded in quite an elaborate pattern: pieces that might pass to a daughter in law on the marriage of a son, for example, or that might be passed from mother to daughter when the daughter reaches a certain age or passes through a specific rite of passage. I even know someone who co-owns a ring that is a family heirloom with her sister: it changes hands (literally) on New Year's Day. So even though such rituals may not be embedded in wider socio cultural behaviours in the West, they are nevertheless well recognised. Happy New Year! Anne Hi Kevin,

I think that the idea that ownership of jewellery in the West is “final” may not be as cut and dried as you suggest. I think women often think of themselves as custodians rather than owners of jewellery that might have been passed through a family, and the question of how things may be inherited in a family is sometimes embedded in quite an elaborate pattern: pieces that might pass to a daughter in law on the marriage of a son, for example, or that might be passed from mother to daughter when the daughter reaches a certain age or passes through a specific rite of passage. I even know someone who co-owns a ring that is a family heirloom with her sister: it changes hands (literally) on New Year’s Day. So even though such rituals may not be embedded in wider socio cultural behaviours in the West, they are nevertheless well recognised.

Happy New Year!

Anne

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