There's a new silver exhibit in Phoenix. One of the featured items: the Sumatran padung earpiece, which, when adjusted up or down, indicates a woman's marital status. Why would this jewelry have such an association, and not, say, a wedding ring?. As you can see from the following replica available at murnis.com, Its double spirals symbolize . . . um . . . the rod-like extension connotes . . .

Anyway, we're dealing with a family-friendly museum here, so let's move along now, shall we? Here's museum director Katie Anderson talking about the exhibit's religious significance:

And while sorority girls everywhere clamor for the silver Return to Tiffany necklace and bracelets, other cultures create fertility symbols with the precious metal. Known as fetishes, these objects vary in symbolism and meaning from culture to culture. It's religious iconography through jewelry, Anderson says: "Each culture's silver can tell us about the people who made them and who wore them."

Plus ca change . . .